The Island Of Doctor Tomoe
by Scorpinac
Summary: AU. While coming home from a vacation in Europe, a young girl is cast adrift in the sea when her ship is sunk by a German UBoat. And from there, she finds herself trapped in ever growing danger on a seemingly hospitable island... COMPLETE!
1. Journey To A Strange Land

Hello! Yes, this is what you think it is, a Sailor Moon casting of "The Island Of Doctor  
  
Moreau." Like with my sister's DBZ cast, I couldn't resist the obvious rhyming of Moreau to  
  
Tomoe. This will be a little more in depth than hers though, for various reasons. Also, there will  
  
be more swearing; you have been warned. First, the disclaimers:  
  
Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that  
  
order, none of whom are me.  
  
The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.  
  
_This_ is emphasis, and *this* is thought.  
  
Now, let us begin...  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
The Island Of Dr. Tomoe  
  
by Scorpinac  
  
Chapter 1: Journey To A Strange Land  
  
Where do I begin? I suppose I could tell you my name. I'm Rini Shields of the New York  
  
Shields. Yep, I'm from a rich family; well, sorta. Even my family didn't come through the crash  
  
of '29 too well. I'm rambling, sorry. Let me start over.  
  
As I said, I'm Rini Shields, and I was born in 1931. In April of 1940, my parents, Serena  
  
and Darien Shields, along with me and my nanny, Trista Meioh, went to Europe for a vacation.   
  
Everything seemed okay, but the continuing aggression of Mr. Hitler's Nazis got mom real  
  
nervous, so dad decided to take us home early, in June instead of August. From what I  
  
understand, the Nazis are trying to unite all of Europe into one country and, personally, I think  
  
it's a good idea. When I told Trista, she said it's not a bad one, but that Mr. Hitler and the Nazis  
  
are doing it wrong. When I asked why, she said something about purse-a-cutting Jews, whatever  
  
that means.  
  
Dad booked us passage on the H.M.S. Millennium, and we began heading home on June  
  
6. As whoever is reading this account can plainly guess, we never reached New York harbor. On  
  
June 8, four days away from New York, everything went bad. I was out on deck, watching the  
  
sea, when members of the crew started shouting about something coming toward us. Trista said  
  
we should get back to our cabin, and then suddenly everything was shaking, the whole boat!   
  
Somehow I managed to hold onto the railing, and when it all stopped, I could _feel_ the boat  
  
tipping forward.  
  
Everyone started dashing everywhere, and before I knew it, I'd lost Trista in the crowd.   
  
Everyone was panicking, and that was when I saw it, the mast of a submarine fleeing into the  
  
distance. As my readers are no doubt aware by now, the Millennium was sunk by a "U-boat"  
  
belonging to the Germans. But this point has naught to do with my story.  
  
As everything seemed to be going crazy, I tried to find my way back to my nan, or my  
  
parents. But then I was pushed, hard, and fell backwards. The next thing I recall is lying on my  
  
back on an empty seat of a lifeboat that had begun lowering a few moments before. Only two  
  
other people, both grown men, were in the boat with me; one was a sailor, and one looked to be a  
  
passenger, like me. And from what I could see, they had begun lowering the lifeboat without  
  
waiting for anyone else to get on!  
  
They glanced at me only passingly as they got the boat to the water and then untied the  
  
big ropes holding it to the Millennium. Afraid they would hurt me or worse, I chose to stay still  
  
where I was, and wait for another lifeboat to come around and join us. And then another man up  
  
above tried to leap from the quickly sinking Millennium to our lifeboat, but caught his foot on  
  
something, it looked to be a rope loop, and his head smashed against the side of the ship, where  
  
he then lay stay still forever.  
  
As it happens, as unlucky as it was for him, it was just as lucky for the three of us in the  
  
boat he did not make it, and perhaps just as lucky for him, now I think about it. I will explain in a  
  
moment why I say this, but first I must now say that, sadly, my two companions then decided not  
  
to wait for anyone else to try and make the boat, and proceeded to row us away like the cowards  
  
they truly were.  
  
Then, as if God sought to punish us all for vacating our fellow man, a storm suddenly blew  
  
up from I know not where. When it finally stopped, our craft was a quarter to half full of rain  
  
water, and neither the remains of the Millennium, nor any other lifeboats with survivors, were  
  
anywhere in sight. We three were adrift and alone...and now I truly feared for myself.  
  
My companions began to bail out the water with their hands, and I decided to risk moving  
  
in order to help them, and in due course pulled off my small shoes to use them as scoops, which is  
  
how I came to lose them when the boat suddenly rocked, scaring me and making me drop them  
  
into the briny depths.  
  
Once the water level was down to merely a few centimeters deep inside the boat, my  
  
companions examined what supplies we had with us, and found we had no food, and only one  
  
canteen of water, and not a very big one, either. Hence why I say it was lucky the person who  
  
sought to become the fourth member of our small group never made it - though I suppose that is  
  
a little selfish. But, as I hope to bring you to see, I would soon have reasons a plenty to think of  
  
only myself.  
  
As we floated onward, not knowing where we were or which direction to try paddling in  
  
to find land, my two companions began to talk bitterly about how little water we had to drink,  
  
which, at the time, I did not understand, as water was at that very moment around us every way  
  
we looked. Not wanting them to hurt me, and feeling they would just be annoyed with me if I  
  
said anything to them, I stayed on my seat, three more between me and them, and drew my legs  
  
up against me and wrapped my arms around them, staying as quiet and still as I could.  
  
But eventually, as I had to, I found myself growing thirsty, and it was then I finally came  
  
to speak with my only companions at that particular time, as, no one having ever told me before  
  
not to, I went to quench my thirst from the ocean water outside the boat, I still being too nervous  
  
and scared to ask for the canteen. The former passenger must have seen me, as his voice  
  
suddenly traveled to me:  
  
"What are you doing?" I turned timidly to face my two shipmates, finding them both  
  
staring at me with great intent.  
  
"I'm thirsty," I told them. "I was gonna get a drink."  
  
"From the ocean?" the sailor then said. "Is it your intent to hasten your departure from  
  
us?"  
  
"Huh?" I said back. "But...isn't it just water?"  
  
"It's seawater. It'll dry you out even faster than if you just wait for it to happen," I was  
  
told by the once passenger. I stared at them both, trying to decide whether or not I believed  
  
them, and then the sailor picked up the canteen and handed it to me. Deciding not to argue about  
  
it, I took the canteen and put it to my lips, taking three gulps all in one go, and then the sailor  
  
pulled it away again.  
  
"Not too much now," he said. "We need to conserve it as much as possible." So saying,  
  
he took one gulp for himself, and then handed it to my other companion, who also took only one  
  
gulp. I returned to laying quietly on my seat.  
  
Time passed, a day, and then two, then three, then four, and finally our water began to run  
  
low. From my second drink on, I had been allowed but one small gulp at a time, though I was  
  
now no longer so nervous as to keep me from asking for a drink when I really, really, _really_  
  
wanted one. But with our water finally going low, my companions began to return to their true,  
  
greedy selves, and began discussing how to make the last of our water stretch until we found land.   
  
The sailor suggested we draw lots, and the loser be thrown into the sea to the sharks that had  
  
been staying near us for the last two days.  
  
Growing nervous that my companions would finally turn on me and throw me away like  
  
an unwanted toy, I looked around within my immediate reach for something to protect myself  
  
with, and spotted a knife lying on the bottom of the boat - I can only imagine it had been there  
  
from the start - and I grabbed it, tucking it quietly into my dress where I could reach it at a  
  
moment's notice. I doubt now if I would have had the strength to truly lift it to do anything, but I  
  
knew that I would have tried if I'd had to. But as it happens, though, the problem never truly  
  
came up.  
  
One of my companions, the passenger, I think, stated that I could be readily ignored as I  
  
didn't require as much water as they, anyway, and the two continued to argue for what felt a  
  
great while, and then they took some buttons for lots from the passenger's shirt, marking one to  
  
be different from the others, and the sailor insisted that I draw too, so reluctantly I did.  
  
The sailor drew the marked button, which I must regretfully say I took relief in as my  
  
selfishness had again overridden my manners, but then the sailor turned on the rest of us, refusing  
  
to acknowledge his loss. As he and the passenger argued about it, I quickly returned to my seat  
  
and curled up once again, choosing not to look at them as I now feared them more than ever.   
  
They continued arguing for several minutes, it seemed, before I heard the tremendous splash - one  
  
had gone overboard.  
  
I took a grip on the knife I had procured, prepared to protect my life from my remaining  
  
companion when he came, as I felt certain he soon would, to toss me into the sea as well. But  
  
then I heard _both_ scream in fear and terror, and I looked up to see that not one, but _both_ of  
  
them had fallen out of the boat.  
  
Now, I know I should have tried to make momma and poppa proud of me by trying to  
  
help them both despite what had transpired but moments before, but by the time I saw what had  
  
happened, it was already too late, for as I have said, several sharks had come to swim apace with  
  
us two days before, and even as I watched and what had happened sank in, they made quick of  
  
the meal so freely proffered to them. Mere seconds or moments after I saw the two men in the  
  
water, the sharks had taken them into the deep, never to return.  
  
And now, I was alone.  
  
I don't know how long I sat there just staring at the spot in the water where my  
  
companions had been, but eventually I dropped my weapon, now useless, back to the floor of the  
  
boat, and moved over to where my companions had left the canteen. I looked inside to see how  
  
full it was, which wasn't much as had already been determined, and, feeling thirsty once more, I  
  
regret to say that I then finished off my supply in only four quick gulps right there. Only after I  
  
realized the canteen was now empty did I realize my own mistake, and why my companions had  
  
been so stern about rationing the water to begin with. With nothing else to do, I curled up on the  
  
seat where I was, and just laid still, waiting...  
  
I'm not sure at all how long I sat in my lifeboat, alone in the middle of the vast and  
  
merciless ocean. I know that at least a day, maybe two, went by while I lay there motionless,  
  
praying God would forgive me and send someone, _anyone_ to save me. Within a few hours of  
  
my isolation I realized that, despite my fear of them, I had been welcome of my two late  
  
companions, for now I suffered from a malady as terrible as my ever present hunger and growing  
  
thirst, that of loneliness.  
  
But then my prayers were answered, as I suddenly heard a sound, the loud, piercing wail  
  
of a boat whistle. I tried to move, but my body refused to acknowledge my commands to it. And  
  
my thirst was so bad, I couldn't concentrate on anything but my tummy's constant pleas. And  
  
then, just as I thought for sure I was doomed, I heard something nudge the boat, then something  
  
landing in the boat with a thud. The next thing I recall was hearing a voice near me, as my eyes  
  
had finally begun to lose their focus.  
  
"It's a little kid," someone said. "What's she doing out here all by herself?" I remember  
  
feeling someone lift my arm, and then release it again, my arm dropping limply, and then another  
  
voice:  
  
"Forget her, she's dead," the second person said, sounding very annoyed. "Just toss her  
  
in the drink for the fish!" I then remember feeling something pressing against my neck, then:  
  
"No, she's alive!" the first voice said. "Barely. Let's take her on board, there's still time  
  
to save her."  
  
"What the hell for?"  
  
"Hello! She's just a kid! She deserves a chance for making it this long!"  
  
"And I should care...why?!" The first voice groaned, and there was the sound of  
  
something rustling.  
  
"Four hundred dollars?"  
  
"Fine," then the sound of more rustling of whatever it was, most likely the money  
  
changing hands. "But you have to bring her aboard yourself."  
  
"Fine! Jadeite! Come here and give me a hand!" The last things I remember before  
  
losing consciousness completely was something pressing against my lips, and a face with yellow  
  
hair attached to it...and that it was somehow a thing from my most horrid nightmares.  
  
And then I drifted off into sleep...  
  
When I next opened my eyes, my first thought was that I had come to the gates of  
  
Heaven, and was waiting to be judged by God. Then I saw I lay in a bed inside a rather dingy  
  
looking cabin of a boat. My head lay upon a very comfy pillow, a warm blanket covering my  
  
body. And sitting near me on my right was a lady with blonde hair and orange-gold eyes wearing  
  
a white doctor's coat, black heels, and wire-frame glasses writing something on a pad of paper. I  
  
also noted a sharp pain in my left arm. Before I could look to see what caused it, she saw that I  
  
had awoken, and stopped writing.  
  
"Hey, kid," she said, and I immediately recognized her voice as belonging to the first  
  
person who had come to my rescue in the lifeboat, the one who had paid for my survival.   
  
"Welcome back to the land of the living!" It took a moment, my throat was dry and a bit sore  
  
from not being used for so long, but I finally managed to reply.  
  
"You saved me," I croaked like a frog, "Thank you."  
  
"Hey, no prob!" she said. "I couldn't leave a tough little cookie like you out there to die."   
  
She then batted her eyes over her shoulder to the door leading to the rest of the ship. "Unlike  
  
some people I could name." I then turned to look at my arm, and saw a plastic tube taped to it,  
  
the tube attached to the underside of my elbow by a needle that had been sunk into my arm,  
  
causing the aforementioned pain. On the other end of the tube on a small hook on a stand above  
  
me was a plastic bag full of fluid, which was flowing down the tube into my arm.  
  
"What?" I managed to ask, sounding a little less froggy, but not very much, and she smiled  
  
warmly.  
  
"It's a makeshift IV drip," she said. "That's Intra-Venus fluid drip. You were almost  
  
completely dehydrated when we found you out there, tried to give you some water on the spot,  
  
but you couldn't even swallow, so I threw this together to keep you going till you recovered  
  
enough to take in sustenance on your own." She then got a glass of liquid and offered it to me.   
  
"Want a drink? You sound like a frog."  
  
"Ribbit," I croaked out, and reached for the glass. She moved over and put it to my lips,  
  
and I drank the whole thing rather quickly, I must report. It was something ruby red, with an  
  
interesting flavor that I could not readily identify. When I finished, she refilled the glass, and I  
  
drained it again willingly as she spoke once more.  
  
"Oh, yeah, you were ready for this," she said. "It's a special mixture of my own making,  
  
with lots of important nutrients to help super-charge your system. You should start feeling much  
  
better real soon now."  
  
"Mm, thanks again," I said after I finished the second glass, now sounding _much_ less  
  
like a frog. "Who are you? Are you a doctor?"  
  
"More of a vet," she replied. "I'm Patricia Mimete. What's your name?"  
  
"Rini. Rini Shields," I answered, smiling. I remember my heart singing then: I was alive.   
  
I was alive!  
  
"Rini, that's a pretty name," Ms. Mimete said. "In case you're wondering, you're  
  
currently on board the _lovely_ S.S. Nemesis, a slow moving cargo tug owned and operated by  
  
her captain, Crimson Rubeus. When we spotted you, I had to pay him fifty bucks just to get him  
  
to take the boat close enough to check you out. Currently, we're about three days away from my  
  
little 'island paradise'."  
  
"Can you take this out?" I asked, glancing at the needle still in my arm.  
  
"In a little bit," Ms. Mimete told me. "First I wanna look you over and make sure you're  
  
okay. But right now, I'm thinking you're in the mood for some food, right? They're making  
  
some boiled mutton right now, so I'll go get us some. And I'll see that you get a nice big helping,  
  
okay?"  
  
"Sure, sounds yummy," I said. "Thank you, again."  
  
"Hey, you're welcome," Ms. Mimete said. "Be back in a moment." With that she stood  
  
up and left the cabin. I took the time I waited to carefully sit up and look around my little cabin  
  
properly. As I had noted at my first glance, it wasn't the cleanest place in the world, but it had  
  
served my immediate needs. The only light came from a lantern hanging from the ceiling and the  
  
one small porthole in the port side wall. Around me sat some boxes filled with lord only knows  
  
what, and the chair that Ms. Mimete had sat in. I also noticed then that I was naked, my dress  
  
having gone while I slept, which shocked me no end. The cabin door then began to creak open,  
  
and I shyly pulled the blanket up with my right hand to hide myself. A moment later, Ms. Mimete  
  
entered with our meals on a tray.  
  
"What happened to my clothes?" I asked while Ms. Mimete closed the door and brought  
  
our bowls over and set them on a crate, then pulled out a miniature table that she set up before  
  
her chair, and then pulled out a bed tray that she set before me.  
  
"Oh, I did that," she said as she set a spoon and one bowl of boiled mutton on the bed tray  
  
for me, then set the other on the mini-table and took her seat. "They were a little dirty, so I took  
  
'em off of you and gave them to one of my helpers to be cleaned. I'll go get them later. You just  
  
eat now, okay? Don't worry, I've declared this cabin off-limits to all of the boy persuasion until  
  
later, so it's just us girls." I thought about it for a moment, then let go of the blanket and picked  
  
up the spoon. As soon as the first bite reached my stomach, I began to dig in with relish,  
  
forgetting completely my state of dress.  
  
As I ate, somewhat greedily I must shamefully report, Ms. Mimete ate some of her own  
  
mutton, then rose and took out a stethoscope and other tools, taking a quick listen to my heart -  
  
the metal part felt really cold next to my bare chest - and running some other checks, then took a  
  
gauze pad and pressed it to my left arm where the needle went in to it, and pulled the needle out,  
  
putting a clothespin on the tube to cut the flow of fluids for the time being before hanging it on  
  
the hook for the time being. She then pulled out a cloth bandage and wrapped it around my arm,  
  
telling me I would have to leave it on for at least three hours, and not to try to lift anything heavy  
  
with that arm during that time, not that there was anything I wanted to lift, anyway. She then  
  
returned to her seat and her own meal.  
  
When I finished my meal I looked up to her quietly, once again pulling the blanket up to  
  
cover myself.  
  
"Ms. Mimete," I said, "What's going to happen to me?"  
  
"Oh, just Mimete will do. The Nemesis will pull into an official port four days after they  
  
drop me and my 'entourage' off," Ms. Mimete answered. "I've 'persuaded' Capt. Rubeus to  
  
allow you to remain as a passenger until they get there, and then you'll be put ashore and on your  
  
own. Just go right to the nearest police station, and they should be able to help you get in touch  
  
with your family. You _do_ have a family, right?"  
  
"Yes, I have a momma, a poppa, and my nan," I told her.  
  
"A nan? A nanny? Hey, how'd you get in that lifeboat, anyway? What happened?" she  
  
asked me, and I then told her of how I was going home with my family when the Millennium was  
  
sent to the bottom, of the man who killed himself trying to get to my lifeboat, and of my two  
  
companions who left me to 'befriend' the sharks, and when I was done, Mimete just stared. Then  
  
she finally said, "Wow. You're a tougher kid than I thought. Not many kids your age would  
  
have been able to handle all that as well as you seem to have done, I don't think."  
  
"Thank you, but I was just lucky," I blushed a little. "After all, you did say I nearly died  
  
out there, right? That is what you meant when you said I was almost 'dehydrated'?"  
  
"Uh, huh. You were almost totally dried out," she said, then leaned in and gave me a little  
  
tickle, which made me giggle, as she added, "You were almost Rini the human raisin! Yes you  
  
were."  
  
"So," I said after she leaned back, "When you say you 'persuaded' the Captain to take me  
  
to a mainland, you mean you paid him more money, right? Bought me a late ticket, sorta?"  
  
"Kind of like that, yeah," she replied. "A six hundred dollar 'ticket'. Greedy bastard." I  
  
gasped lightly at her language, and she blinked at me in surprise, then chuckled. "What's the  
  
matter, kid? Haven't you ever heard your momma or poppa or nan swear in earshot of you  
  
before?"  
  
"No, never! It'd be unladylike and uncivilized!" I replied hastily. She chuckled again, a  
  
little louder this time.  
  
"Well, you better get used to it, cause on this craft you're gonna hear a _lot_ of cussing  
  
and swearing before you make it to shore. The Captain himself cusses almost every other word  
  
he says, I swear!" she told me, and I lightly swallowed. Suddenly I was becoming very nervous  
  
about being alone on this craft for four days, with no one for company except a bunch of naughty  
  
mouthed sailors. "Don't worry," she continued calmly. "It won't be so bad. You've survived so  
  
far, haven't you?"  
  
"I guess," I said. "Um, do you think my clothes are clean yet? I'd sorta like to get  
  
dressed now." She got up and removed the tray, then gently laid me back into the bed, tucking  
  
me in almost like mom used to.  
  
"Don't you worry about that," she stated. "I'll go get them later, okay? Right now you  
  
need to just rest, and regain your strength. You wanna be all healthy and well when momma and  
  
poppa and your nan come to pick you up, don't you?"  
  
"Okay," I said. It was then I heard it, or maybe I'd heard it before, and simply not  
  
listened as my tummy had right of attorney. It was a roar, of an animal in a _very_ bad mood! I  
  
let out a tiny gasp of fear and grabbed Mimete's sleeve. "Mimete, what's that?" I asked timidly.   
  
Once more, she just smiled down at me calmly.  
  
"Cougar," she said.  
  
"Cougar?" I blinked. "As in a big, wild, kitty cat?"  
  
"One of the fiercest," Mimete confirmed. "It's one of several animals I'm currently  
  
transporting to the island where I live. Don't worry, it's not gonna break out and eat you, or  
  
anyone else. It's kept locked in a cage, and I have a man on it at all times with a tranquilizer gun.  
  
If it ever gets too rowdy, poof!, nap time!" At the last, she pointed her finger as though it were a  
  
gun, tapping her thumb against it as she pretended to shoot the imaginary tranquilizer into the  
  
cougar. I still felt nervous at the prospect of sharing a boat with a vicious animal, but with  
  
Mimete's reassurances, I tried my best to relax.  
  
It was two days after I came to board the S.S. Nemesis, the bandage on my arm now long  
  
gone, that I managed to get up out of bed and walk around again for a bit, and took a moment to  
  
look out the porthole to see the sea still surrounding the craft I rode in. I felt a little stiff, and had  
  
to wrap myself with my blanket as my clothes had _still_ not been brought back, though I had  
  
also not yet seen anyone other than Mimete. I have to say I thought I was really lucky to meet  
  
her as she seemed so nice. But eventually I wouldn't be so sure.  
  
As I shuffled around a bit to get used to walking again, after all it _was_ the first time I  
  
had walked in many days!, I again heard the sound of the cougar growling and fidgeting  
  
somewhere outside, a sound I had by now actually managed to get used to, though it still made  
  
me nervous, and then came the sound of someone talking. Though muffled and a bit distant, I  
  
quickly recognized Mimete's voice as she spoke to someone else.  
  
Curious - I'm just a kid, remember? - I walked over to the door and opened it a creak to  
  
peek outside. Mimete was standing a short ways away talking with a man with short red hair and  
  
deep brown eyes wearing a sailor's uniform, cap, and black boots, and smoking a pipe. His chin  
  
seemed a little scraggly, and he had this mean look in his eyes. The moment I heard him talk, I  
  
just _knew_ he had to be the one who wanted to just throw me in with the fish when they found  
  
me. I instantly decided I _did not_ like this person.  
  
"...and I told you that they are to be treated with respect! What exactly is your problem?"  
  
Mimete snapped at him. "If I say I want them forward, they will be forward, jackass!"  
  
"It's my friggin ship!" the man snapped back. "An' I'll do whatever I shittin' feel like! I  
  
don't want them damn freaks near the bow!" In case I forgot to mention it earlier, my ears and  
  
cheeks also became quite red due to listening to them right then.  
  
"Hey, we're the passengers, remember?!" Mimete snapped back. "And I expect my  
  
animal cargo to be kept an eye on, so god damn it, I want at least one of my people forward with  
  
the ones that are there!"  
  
"Ask if I give a crap!" the man snapped back. "I'm doing a god damn favor taking you on  
  
board to that island of yours, you know? And I'm really going out of my friggin way to let you  
  
bring that little sea bitch aboard!"  
  
"Hey, that's no way to talk about an innocent child, sir!" Mimete roared, attempting to  
  
look like a ferocious lioness! And a very good job it was, too! Well, it looked convincing to me,  
  
at any rate.  
  
"Who the hell cares if she's innocent or not?!" the man all but screamed. "That brat is a  
  
friggin drag on our supplies!"  
  
"Yeah, well you already accepted payment to take her to the next port, so stuff it!"  
  
Mimete replied. They started to move off then, and I started to poke my head out to take a look  
  
at the ship itself when someone else suddenly popped up in my face. The person was about my  
  
height, or a little bit taller, and was heavily covered up; even his face was covered so all I could  
  
really make out were his eyes and some loose locks of hair. Something about the person seemed  
  
like a boy to me, though I'm not sure what gave him away.  
  
He stared at me as I let out a light yelp of surprise, then stepped back timidly from him.   
  
At first he continued to stare, then shuffled forward in a very odd gait, moving closer to me. I  
  
took another step back, and missed my footing, falling to the ground on my backside.   
  
Unfortunately, in the process the blanket flew open, giving my visitor an unwanted candid view of  
  
myself. However, I quickly pulled the blanket back around me, blushing as I did.  
  
Momma had raised me to be a very decent lady, and I wasn't about to let myself become  
  
one of those 'easy girls' on the street she always groused about. The brief view of my nakedness  
  
must have been enough for my visitor, as he shuffled forward and seemed to sniff at me intently. I  
  
tried to crawl backwards away, but he kept getting closer, sniffing more and more. And then he  
  
reached forward and tried to pull the blanket away from me, and I pulled it around myself even  
  
tighter.  
  
"No!" I screamed, pushing him away, but he nudged himself forward. I cried in protest  
  
again, and again he seemed to ignore me. And then...  
  
"What are you doing?!" Mimete's voice carried across the room. I looked up, as did my  
  
unwanted visitor. Mimete was focused on him at the moment. "Kyusuke! Get your little butt  
  
out of here, now!" she snapped, and he motioned toward me. "No, you can't have her. Scram!"  
  
Mimete repeated herself, and Kyusuke finally left. I sighed in relief, then went to get back up  
  
when Mimete caught my arm and helped back to my feet. "You okay, Rini?" she asked me,  
  
worry in her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Who was that?"  
  
"Kyusuke, one of my entourage," she said. "You'll have to forgive him, he was probably  
  
just curious about you." She began to walk me back to the bed.  
  
"Sure," I replied. "Um, who were you talking to before?"  
  
"Huh?" she blinked at me.  
  
"Outside, the man with the red hair," I explained. "Who was he?"  
  
"You heard that?" she asked as we reached the bed and I got back in.  
  
"Well, most of the end of it," I told her. "Well? Who was he?"  
  
"Our illustrious Captain, Crimson Rubeus," Mimete finally answered.  
  
"_He's_ Rubeus?!" I exclaimed in a rather unladylike manner.  
  
"Yep," Mimete said. "Like I said, expect to get a big education in the language of cussing  
  
over the next few days. Actually, I would suggest you stay here in the cabin and just keep out of  
  
his, and everyone else's, way while you wait to reach port. It'll probably be best that way." I  
  
thought about that for a moment.  
  
"Okay, you're probably right," I told her. "Hey, Mimete, when you reach your island,  
  
could you maybe send your 'entourage' on ahead with the animals you have while you, um, stay  
  
with me until I get to the port? I don't wanna stay here all alone."  
  
"Oh, I'd love to kiddo," Mimete said. "But my boss is waiting for me on the island, and  
  
he _really_ doesn't like it when I'm overdue. Sorry, but you're just gonna have to tough it out on  
  
your own. Hey, you made it this far!"  
  
"Yeah," I agree quietly. "Um, could I _please_ have my..." But before I could finish,  
  
Mimete pulled out a package and handed it to me.  
  
"Fresh from the cleaners," she said boastfully. "Sorry it took so long, things got sorta  
  
backed up out there." I took the package and opened it to find my fresh, cleaned clothes within,  
  
and smiled happily to my new friend.  
  
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said. I started to take off the blanket to get dressed  
  
at long last, then paused, looking at Mimete. "Um, could you, uh, that is..."  
  
"Trust me, girl, I've already seen everything," she said. "You got _no_ secrets from me."  
  
I stared a moment longer, and then she said, "Alright, I'll turn away if it makes you feel better."   
  
She stood up and turned her back to me, and I took off the blanket and put on my undergarments  
  
and then my dress, which felt really good right then.  
  
"Thank you," I said, and she turned back.  
  
"No prob.," she replied. "Well, I got to go butt heads with the Captain some more.   
  
Really only popped in to give you your clothes back." Smiling she headed back to the door,  
  
stopping only to give one more aside before she exited. "Oh, and just a bit of advice, don't  
  
eavesdrop at doors anymore. Someone might take offense." And with that, she was gone. I sat  
  
back down on the bed, and thought over my new plight. Mimete thought I could handle it, but I  
  
_really_ didn't want to stay on this ship for four days by myself with only Captain Rubeus and  
  
lord knows what sort of ruffians for company.  
  
But as fate was to turn out, I wouldn't have to...  
  
It was the next day, and I'd come out of the cabin to bid Mimete and her friends goodbye  
  
when fate changed my fortunes once again. I awoke that morning to the sound of someone  
  
shuffling around inside my cabin. I rose my head up a notch and saw the boy from before,  
  
Kyusuke, and someone else collecting the boxes sharing my cabin with me, Mimete near the door  
  
directing them.  
  
"Careful!" she cried at them. "Those are _delicate_. You have to be _gentle_. And  
  
speed it up! Rubeus wants us out of here quick as we can." As I watched, the two people picked  
  
up box after box and carried them out, both in the same odd shuffling gait Kyusuke had  
  
demonstrated earlier, until finally the last box was removed and both they and Mimete left the  
  
cabin forever. I rose completely and dressed, I had disrobed for the night as I had, abashedally,  
  
become somewhat accustomed to sleeping nude over the last three days, and walked to the cabin  
  
door and opened it.  
  
Outside, even more ruckus was going on, more of Mimete's curious "friends" moving  
  
boxes and crates somewhere. Among them were a full hutch of rabbits, some leashed up dogs,  
  
which I would later learn were Staghounds, a couple of Llamas, and a few others. Stepping out  
  
of the cabin, I carefully picked my way through the area, and found a small bench out of the way  
  
to sit on while I waited for them all to finish.  
  
While I watched them work, I noticed one man with blonde hair among them who seemed  
  
malformed, and when he turned his face toward me, I was struck with shock and disgust. His  
  
face was twisted and misshapen, almost inhuman, and I felt almost nauseous, yet at the same time  
  
I had a sense of deja vu, as though I had seen this terror before, but could not remember from  
  
where it could be. After awhile it occurred to me that maybe his face was the last thing I had seen  
  
at the time of my rescue before passing out, but it is only a guess.  
  
Some of the sailors on board ship also aided in the offloading of the boxes, crates, and  
  
animals, and I saw a tight little cage containing the Cougar being swung on a tackle over the side.   
  
Deciding to take a chance, I got up and moved to the railing, glancing over to where everything  
  
was being taken, and saw it being loaded onto a small launch boat, meant for short range sailing  
  
only. In the distance I could see Mimete's jungle island, but couldn't make out anything that  
  
looked like somewhere to live from our current distance, so returned my attention to the loading  
  
of the launch.  
  
I counted two more of the odd people who were with Mimete, at least one of whom  
  
seemed to be a woman, I think, and watched as they finished loading up, so full that the five of  
  
them and Mimete had just barely any room to stand in it. One other stood at the launch's wheel,  
  
and then Mimete looked up and saw me for the first time that morning.  
  
"Oh, hey Rini!" she called to me. "Good morning!"  
  
"Morning, Mimete!" I called back. "Are you sure you can't stay with me?!"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure, kiddo," she said. "I gotta get going now. My boss is waiting, and I'm  
  
sure he has someone on the beach waiting to help supervise the transporting of this stuff into our  
  
compound. Good luck getting back with your parents!"  
  
"Thanks!" I said. "I hope we meet again someday!" Mimete suddenly had an expression  
  
of uncertainty, as though I'd said something wrong, then smiled again.  
  
"Sure, maybe," she told me. "Well, goodbye, Rini!"  
  
"Bye!" I waved, and the launch's motor revved to life and it began to putter off toward  
  
the island. I'd been watching it recede for about five minutes when I realized there was someone  
  
next to me. I turned to see the Captain standing to my left, also looking out at the sea. A  
  
moment later he turned and looked at me.  
  
"What the f**k do you want?" he asked me, making me once again pink a bit at his  
  
language.  
  
"Um, hello, Captain, sir," I said timidly. "I'm Rini, the one you picked up in the  
  
lifeboat..."  
  
"I know who the hell you are, you little sea urchin!" he barked. "And that's your name,  
  
Sea Urchin!" I felt very nervous at this, but decided to push bravely forward.  
  
"Um, Captain, sir, where exactly is the next port?" I asked shyly. Just then one of his men  
  
came up behind him, and stared at me with a nasty glint in his eye I _decidedly_ didn't like!  
  
"Bermuda," Captain Rubeus said. "Not that it makes any difference to you, you're not  
  
going!"  
  
"Huh?" I blinked. "But Mimete said..."  
  
"To Hell with that bitch! And all her freak manservants! Didn't like a one of them!"  
  
Captain Rubeus barked.  
  
"Hey, Captain," the sailor spoke up. "Can't we keep her? Me and some of the other men  
  
wanted to have some 'fun' with her, now that bitch Mimete is gone and can't stop us."  
  
"Forget it, I don't want her draining any more of our supplies!" the Captain roared, and  
  
grabbed my arm, very tightly I would like to add, causing me great pain - for a time I was sure  
  
he'd broken it - and he dragged me to the stern where I saw the lifeboat from the Millennium had  
  
been tied to the Nemesis and towed behind it. Later I realized that I could have told him who my  
  
parents were, and that they might give him a reward for having saved me and brought me to shore  
  
alive, but then again, if I had he might also have decided to hold me for ransom, so I suppose it's  
  
just as well I never thought of it at the time.  
  
"Wait, Captain, please!" I cried out in full panic. "I promise not to get in the way! And I  
  
don't eat that much, honest! I swear on my mother, I'll stay in my cabin and be quiet as a mouse!  
  
You won't even know I'm there! Please, I beg you!"  
  
But he didn't listen to me, not one word that I screamed. He instead put me bodily into  
  
the lifeboat, which had regained some of the water that had been previously bailed out of her, and  
  
then pulled a knife and cut the rope holding it to his craft. In shock I watched as he gave orders  
  
to get underway to his men, at least a couple of whom looked at me dejectedly, as though they'd  
  
lost some sort of prize.  
  
"Captain, please!" I cried out once more futilely, "Don't leave me alone out here!!" In  
  
moments, though, alone I was, again. I sat in the lifeboat for I'm not sure how long before I took  
  
a look at what I had available, which can be summed up as the clothes on my back. The knife I  
  
had found in the craft before had long since gone, as had the empty canteen, and I had no oars or  
  
anything else with which to paddle my way to the island. I could have used my hands, yes, but  
  
remember that sharks had begun to trail the lifeboat prior to the untimely ends of my first two  
  
companions, and for all I knew they were nearby still, lying in wait for me to throw myself to  
  
them as well.  
  
The best I can describe my feelings at that moment is that of being a raggedy old doll that  
  
had been thrown away with the trash, like something nobody else wanted, and so I curled up on a  
  
seat and began to bawl at once again being cast into my personal Hell.  
  
But fate was not done with me yet, and I was not as abandoned as I believed. As I  
  
continued to sit there and bemoan my fate, my ears suddenly perked at the sound of a motor, and  
  
I looked to see to my delight the launch coming back to me! As it got up close, Mimete came to  
  
the side, smiling happily.  
  
"Well, I suppose dumping you in the water is better than what he _could_ have decided to  
  
do with you rather than take you to Bermuda," she commented somewhat idly, and I noticed  
  
something was in her hands. "Unfortunately it doesn't change the fact that I have no room up  
  
here for you, so you'll have to ride in on that. Here, catch!" she stated, and tossed part of the  
  
something in her hands to me - a rope!  
  
"Tie that end to the bow of the dingy," she instructed, and began tying the end she held to  
  
a loop at the back of the launch with expert ease. I immediately started tying my end to the small  
  
jut at the front of my boat, but with...less ease. When Mimete finished she glanced at my work,  
  
and instructed me to wrap some of the excess rope around the jut. "Like this," she said, wrapping  
  
some of it around her end in an upward spiral to show me how, then undoing it. I did as I was  
  
told, and when I reached the top of the jut with the rope, bringing us closer together, she leaned  
  
down and took the loose end on my boat and tied it in a last quick knot for me near the top, then  
  
repeated the procedure on her end, binding my small craft tightly and closely to hers.  
  
"Okay, Catsy, take us on in!" she called to the person at the launch's wheel, and it revved  
  
back up and began moving toward the island at a fast clip, dragging me and my lifeboat with it.  
  
"Mimete!" I called up to her, gaining her attention. "Thank you, you saved me again!"  
  
"Hey, don't mention it," she smiled back. "Enjoy the ride, we'll be there in a minute."  
  
"Okay!" I said, smiling myself, and sat back and relaxed as we came up to the island, my  
  
nightmare finally coming to an end.  
  
But what I didn't know was that my nightmare, in fact, had just begun...  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Next time, Rini meets the rest of the scientist's and "helpers" on the island, and something really  
  
strange is afoot. Heh, heh, heh...  
  
Comments? Questions? Insults? E-mail to Scorpinac@sa-tech.com! 


	2. In The Company Of Dr Tomoe & Friends

Welcome back to my humble island! Stay, rest awhile, ignore the screams of those  
  
animals I'm experimenting on. Be comfortable. You're next on the operating table, heh, heh,  
  
heh! Okay, okay, I'm good. Rini has arrived at the island, and her danger is far from over! Let  
  
us continue! But first, disclaimers -  
  
Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that  
  
order, none of whom are me.  
  
The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.  
  
_This_ is emphasis, and *this* is thought.  
  
And now, the terror continues...  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
The Island Of Dr. Tomoe  
  
by Scorpinac  
  
Chapter 2: In the Company of Dr. Tomoe And Friends  
  
When we reached the shore, a woman with long red hair and red-brown eyes in another  
  
lab coat and red heels was waiting for us, along with three more of the odd looking manservants.   
  
I decided to wait in my boat until told otherwise, not wanting to get in anyone's way. But then  
  
the waiting woman turned and saw me.  
  
"Who's that?" she asked.  
  
"Her name's Rini," Mimete answered. "Found her floating out in the middle of nowhere,  
  
and brought her back from death. Paid Rubeus to take her to Bermuda with him, and this was his  
  
answer."  
  
"And you brought her here?!" the woman snapped as the launch was tied to the dock and  
  
the manservants began unloading the various crates and cages, taking them up to the building  
  
beyond. The building was surrounded by a sturdy looking wall of stone and what looked like  
  
bamboo, the building within made of stone and normal wood. A single string of smoke escaped  
  
the smoke stack, and from where I sat it looked quite cosey.  
  
All around the outside of the wall was thick jungle and some hills in the distance, and of  
  
course the dock and the pretty white sandy beach. I hoped then to find a swimsuit that fit me so I  
  
could go swimming later. Mimete walked up to the other woman, and I had to lean in at the front  
  
of the boat to hear anything.  
  
"What was I supposed to do?" she said. "The bastard dumped her three miles away from  
  
the island. The waves would have washed her up eventually anyway. Would you rather she'd  
  
washed up on the far end of the beach and seen....something she shouldn't?" At the last, she  
  
noticed me leaning to try and hear, and so did her companion.  
  
"I guess not," the woman said. "Take her up to the compound and make sure she stays  
  
out of the way until we decide what to do with her. And since _you're_ the one who brought her  
  
here, _you_ can tell the Doctor about her while you're there!"  
  
"Fine, Kaolinite, consider it done!" Mimete snapped, then turned to the blonde manservant  
  
from before. "Jadeite, pull her boat up to the beach!" she ordered, and the 'man', Jadeite, walked  
  
over in his odd, inhuman gait to my craft, untied the rope, and pulled it up to the beach and landed  
  
it. Somewhat timidly, I got out and stepped on to dry land for the first time in almost two weeks  
  
by my reckoning, maybe longer.  
  
For a moment I was unsteady, I'd gotten used to the 'ground' below me bobbing with the  
  
current, but then regained my land legs and walked up to the new woman, bowing politely.  
  
"Hello, I'm Rini Shields, pleased to meet you, ma'am," I said as politely as I could.  
  
"Ellen Kaolinite," she nodded, and Mimete touched my shoulder, and indicated for me to  
  
follow her, which I did. We walked up to the big wall and then along it for what felt like several  
  
minutes, but I doubt it was, until we reached a gate. As I had noted earlier, the wall consisted of  
  
a solid concrete base below hundreds of vertically standing bamboo 'logs' tied closely together so  
  
as to leave not even the slightest notion of a gap. The gate was only the bamboo logs on a swing  
  
that, when Mimete called to someone named Unazuki, swung upward, allowing our entrance.   
  
Unazuki stood just inside at a control wheel, which she turned counterclockwise to begin closing  
  
the gate, but Mimete told her the others would be coming up with the 'packages' soon, and to  
  
just leave the gate open until they finished it, or she was otherwise instructed.  
  
Unazuki, like the other people I had already seen aside of Mimete and Ms. Kaolinite,  
  
seemed misshapen, and also hunched over, a distinct difference from those I'd seen so far. Her  
  
face was just as mis-formed as Jadeite's, a seeming parody of a human's, yet she had long red hair  
  
in a pony tail, which seemed to add to her contrast to my knowledge of human shapes.  
  
"New...little...mistress?" she asked in a slightly guttural, yet still distinguishably female,  
  
voice while indicating, gee, big shock, me.  
  
"She's a guest, Unazuki, and yes, if she asks you for something, you are expected to  
  
comply," Mimete answered, shocking me no end as I had _never_ been allowed such...authority  
  
over a servant before due to my age. At home, I was always expected to defer to the wisdom of  
  
my elders, even the butler and the maids, and especially my parents and my nan. Being told I  
  
could boss someone around as I wished, and that they were expected to obey without question,  
  
was a new concept to me.  
  
As to the compound, there was a moderate tower near the gate with a small antennae dish  
  
on the roof, and I could see someone sitting inside it, staring out at all that lay around. To one  
  
side sat a rather ample looking vegetable garden, and several trees bearing various fruits and other  
  
consumables, and a small well was tucked away near the house. The house itself was, as I had  
  
surmised, wood and three stories tall, about seventy feet I think long, and about forty feet across  
  
with a redbrick chimney on the end to my far right as I entered through the gate, and all in all  
  
looked like a small mansion. There was also a second, smaller building off to the side, which  
  
when I asked on the way up to the main house, Mimete told me was for storing certain animals  
  
until they were considered needed.  
  
We went up to the house and entered through the front door, walked through a few  
  
corridors, and entered a room with a small couch against one wall, a comfy looking easy chair in  
  
one corner, a tall stand-up lamp between them, and a throw rug upon the floor below a small table  
  
with an incomplete jigsaw puzzle on it. There was also a small bookcase with several books on it.   
  
There were two other ways out of the room, one to the left of the chair, and another leading out  
  
to a patio, or so it looked through the window near it. Once we were inside, Mimete came to a  
  
stop and turned to me.  
  
"Okay, you stay here in this lounge and wait 'til I come to get you," she told me. "I'm  
  
gonna go tell my boss you're here and make sure he doesn't decide to use you for one of our  
  
experiments. So just sit tight, okay kiddo?"  
  
"He wouldn't really experiment on me, would he?" I asked nervously.  
  
"Nah, just pulling your leg," she said. "Oh, and don't try to get through there, it's  
  
locked," she indicated the inner door to the left of the chair. "Right, I'll be back as soon as I can,  
  
'kay?" she said, and left the way we came in, closing the door behind her. I stood still for a while,  
  
quietly staring at the door, not sure what to do, then walked over to the door and tried to open it,  
  
only to find that Mimete had locked it.  
  
Finding that I was not trusted to look around on my own was a bit upsetting, I must  
  
report, but I quickly accepted that whatever Mimete and her friends were doing on this island I  
  
was not to be privy to unless they decided to show me. I went over to the bookcase and looked  
  
at the books contained therein; they were all science and medicine books, and some were in other  
  
languages, and I realized I'd get no entertainment from these, I wouldn't understand a word they  
  
said! So I went over to the table and looked at the puzzle thereon - a picture of a beautiful large  
  
baleen whale, a Grey, I think, swimming peacefully underwater. I fiddled with fitting some of the  
  
unfit pieces for a little while to distract myself, and then I heard music floating in.  
  
It was a pleasant melody, and it seemed to be coming from the nearby patio, so I put  
  
down the piece I was holding and walked over to the patio door, nudged it open a bit, and peeked  
  
out. Sitting on the patio porch was a small table with an old-fashioned radio sitting on it, from  
  
which the music came. But that quickly became unimportant to me as I saw who was listening,  
  
and dancing, to it!  
  
There were two girls, one with short black hair that she wore down to her chin where it  
  
curled inward slightly, and pretty purple eyes, and one with more purple hair held in a small white  
  
hat and equally pretty blue eyes. They both wore brief black, two piece swimsuits and white,  
  
nearly transparent shawls around their shoulders. But what mattered the most to me was that the  
  
purple-haired girl was my age! And the other girl was only a year or two older, maybe three! I'd  
  
found playmates!  
  
Letting my excitement and happiness get the better of me, I opened the door all the way  
  
and walked out to stand less than three feet from them, smiling widely. I watched them dance to  
  
the music while I waited for them to notice me, and after a few moments the younger girl turned  
  
her face toward me and opened her eyes. The moment she saw me she jumped with a gasp, and  
  
this got the other one's attention, who also jumped and gasped when she looked and saw me  
  
standing there.  
  
"Hi!" I said, "My name's Rini, what's yours?" But they just stood there and stared at me,  
  
like I was some kind of evil space alien like in the science fiction movies, or a monster like in the  
  
horror pictures. I started to feel a little uneasy, and then I heard Mimete's voice calling out for  
  
me from the lounge I so recently had occupied, and a moment later she came onto the patio  
  
herself.  
  
"Oh, there you are," she said as I turned to her, and the two girls ran off down the patio to  
  
another door. I turned my head back in time to see them disappear inside, and felt really  
  
downtrodden, for lack of a better term.  
  
"Hey, wait!" I called to them futilely, but they were gone.  
  
"Ah, I see you met Hotaru and Melanie," Mimete said. "Come on, the Doctor's  
  
instructed me to show you to a room until further notice." She put a hand on my shoulder and led  
  
me to another hall, then to a stairwell up to the second floor.  
  
"Why'd they run away?" I asked. "I just wanted to be friends with them."  
  
"I'm sure you did," Mimete answered as we reached the top of the stairs and headed  
  
down another corridor. "But they've never seen another kid aside of each other before. You  
  
probably scared them spitless." At that point she turned and opened a door, ushering me inside  
  
the room beyond. The room held a bed, a chair, a small writing desk, and little else. A window  
  
allowed sunlight to filter in and illuminate the room. "If you need to relieve yourself, the nearest  
  
bathroom is just down the hall, second door on your left," Mimete said. "Please remain in here  
  
otherwise until I, or someone else, comes up to get you. We have quite a few things to move  
  
around, store, and whatnot, so it could be awhile. If necessary, I'll send some food up to you at  
  
lunchtime, but we should be more than ready for a full sit down by dinner. So you just behave  
  
yourself up here til then, 'kay?"  
  
"Okay, I will," I replied, and she closed the door and left. I checked the door almost  
  
immediately, and found that this time I had _not_ been locked in, but decided that until I knew  
  
more about my current situation, I would do as I was told. So I sat at the desk, found some blank  
  
paper and some writing implements, and decided to doodle for awhile.  
  
Before long I had drawn pictures of my parents, my nan, my house, the Millennium, my  
  
two belated companions from the lifeboat, and even Mimete and Captain Rubeus when my tummy  
  
started to pester me for food. I got up and glanced out the window, and found I was on the side  
  
of the house facing the main gate, where Mimete, Ms. Kaolinite, the ten servants, including  
  
Unazuki, and the girls I had met on the patio, who as far as I could tell had not put on any more  
  
clothing than what I had initially seen them in, as well as a new man I had not yet met with short  
  
white hair, black circle frame glasses, blue pants, and another white lab coat were still moving  
  
things around, the Cougar being brought inside by Jadeite, Kyusuke, and one other man with  
  
wavy red-brown hair.  
  
I watched for a few moments more, then felt my body voice another, far more urgent,  
  
need, and following Mimete's instructions quickly found the bathroom and allowed myself some  
  
much needed relief. The bathroom had both a sink, a full on tub, and, of course, the most  
  
important requirement of all, which was the first thing I made use of before cleaning myself up at  
  
the sink. When I returned to my room, I found the man from the tower waiting for me with a  
  
plate of biscuits, a pate of butter, a pair of bananas and carrot sticks, and a glass of juice. I  
  
accepted them gratefully, and set the plate on the desk before turning back to the man, or, as I  
  
then looked at him more closely, a boy actually, no more than fifteen or sixteen at best, who was  
  
already retreating.  
  
"Wait," I said, "My name's Rini. What's your's?" He had brown hair and eyes, and like  
  
the other manservants his face seemed slightly misshapen, his back hunched a bit like Kyusuke's.  
  
He stared at me a moment before he answered.  
  
"Greg," he told me. "I Greg. I manage tower, listen to radio, watch for boats in water,  
  
Mimete tell me bring food to you, little mistress Rini."  
  
"Thank you," I replied. "It looks good. I hope I'm not keeping you."  
  
"Must go now," Greg said. "Have to return to tower, Doctor said take food, then come  
  
straight back."  
  
"Okay," I said, "See you later, Greg." He nodded, seeming happy that I took the time to  
  
be nice and thank him for his trouble, then shuffled out. I turned to my meal, and ate it heartily,  
  
as I then realized I had never taken breakfast that morning before departing the Nemesis. When I  
  
finished eating and had downed my juice, I looked myself over, and realized I could not recall the  
  
last time that I had bathed myself. While I am sure Mimete washed me after bringing me aboard  
  
the Nemesis and ensuring my survival prior to my first awakening upon the now hated and long  
  
gone craft, I still felt dirty, and decided to return to the bathroom.  
  
At this point, I suddenly felt adventurous, maybe even a bit rebellious. After all, the girls  
  
of my own age group I had seen in the courtyard helping to move boxes were dressed in almost  
  
nothing, which told me that discipline was far more slack than what I was accustomed to, and it  
  
had been nearly two weeks since I had been told how to be a proper young lady by anyone. So in  
  
a sudden moment of naughtiness, I disrobed in my room and traveled from there to the bathroom  
  
in only the suit of my birth. I was not seen, yet felt extremely thrilled at my boldness. I am sure  
  
my mother will take me to task for this act when she reads this account, but I enjoyed it,  
  
nonetheless.  
  
I filled the tub and bathed myself calmly, enjoying the wonderfully soothing soak in the  
  
lovely warm water. One might think I would never want to see water again after my ordeal, but  
  
for some reason it didn't bother me. Once I felt thoroughly relaxed, I got out of the tub, emptied  
  
it, collected a towel from a pile in one corner of the room and dried myself off, then poked my  
  
head out the door to see if the coast was clear, it was, and then lightly sprinted back to my room,  
  
as naked as before. I couldn't help it, it was just so much fun!  
  
Once back in my room, I went to the window, glanced at the people below who still  
  
continued to move around the crates and boxes and other things Mimete had brought with her  
  
from the Nemesis, then pulled the drapes, darkening the room, and slipped between the covers of  
  
my new bed still nude and closed my eyes for a nap.  
  
I awoke with the coming of dusk, and had just redressed myself and finished fixing my  
  
slightly tangled hair when there was a knock at my door and Jadeite stuck in his head.  
  
"Mistress Mimete sent me, to bring the new little mistress to dinner," he said.  
  
"Okay, just a sec," I said, completed putting my hair up, and then followed him back  
  
down to the first floor and then to the dining room. The dining table wasn't very big, about ten  
  
feet long, maybe, and the white-haired man I saw earlier was at the head, and I noticed his eyes  
  
were a pale blue. Mimete sat to his right and Ms. Kaolinite to his left. The raven-haired girl from  
  
before sat next to Ms. Kaolinite, and the purple-haired girl sat at the other end of the table  
  
opposite the man.  
  
Mimete turned and saw me, then waved me to the open seat next to her right across from  
  
the raven-haired girl.  
  
"I was just telling everyone how I rescued you from the sea, kiddo," she said. I sat down  
  
and glanced at the spread - juice and what looked like wine or something else with alcohol in it to  
  
drink, various fruits and vegetables, a warm loaf of bread hand sliced with a stick of butter to go  
  
with, and what looked like roast beef. I glanced at my hosts, who indicated I was to serve myself,  
  
so I took a piece of roast, some carrot and celery sticks, a coupe of slices of orange, a glass of  
  
juice - my parents told me I was never allowed to have anything with alcohol 'cause I was too  
  
young, even if they weren't there - and one slice of bread that I covered with butter while Mimete  
  
finished her part of the tale. I noticed that no one had said grace, but instead had immediately dug  
  
in, so I began to eat, when Mimete turned to me once more.  
  
"Okay, you already know Kaolinite," she said. "And this is Hotaru," she indicated the  
  
raven-haired girl, "and Melanie," the purple-haired girl, "whom you met on the patio this  
  
morning. By the way, they have something they'd like to say to you."  
  
"Oh?" I turned to them while munching on my bread.  
  
"We're sorry we ran off on you like that," Hotaru said to me. "We didn't mean to be  
  
rude."  
  
"We've never had guests before," Melanie added. "Especially one our age. You...scared  
  
us..."  
  
"I noticed," I commented. "It's okay, I forgive you. I really hope we can all be friends  
  
while I'm here." I noticed them glance at each other as though unsure of my comment. I then  
  
glanced at the man sitting at the head of the table. Mimete saw me and immediately introduced  
  
him.  
  
"And this," she said, indicating him, "is my and Kaolinite's boss, Dr. Souichi Tomoe. He  
  
also owns the island." Dr. Tomoe smiled at me warmly, which made feel all the more safe with  
  
my new company, and I smiled back.  
  
"Hello, Dr. Tomoe," I said. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Rini Shields."  
  
"It's nice to meet you, too, Rini," he said. "I'm glad you forgave my daughter. As she  
  
and Melanie said, we've never really entertained visitors before."  
  
"Daughter?" I blinked. "Hotaru's your daughter?"  
  
"Of course I am," Hotaru said. "Whose else's would I be?"  
  
"Uh," I stammered, "It just...took me by surprise is all...you don't really look much alike."  
  
"Yes, I brought Hotaru with me when I and my assistants here departed civilization for the  
  
isolation of this island," Dr. Tomoe stated. "She was only twenty months old then, and Melanie  
  
was born here a year and a half later. No, she's not mine, she's...someone else's. Regardless,  
  
she's been a boon companion to my darling little angel ever since." Hotaru blushed a pretty shade  
  
of crimson at her father's last comment.  
  
"Dad," she hissed, "You're embarrassing me..."  
  
"Why?" he asked. "You'll always be my darling little angel, no matter how big you get.   
  
Now, as to you, Ms. Rini, would you care to enlighten us as to how you came to be in the middle  
  
of the ocean for Mimete to find and save you from the claws of the grim reaper?" I blushed a  
  
little myself at being addressed so formally, then went into my tale for the second time, from my  
  
family's early departure from Europe to the sinking of the Millennium to the loss of my initial two  
  
companions.  
  
"The rest you know," I said in conclusion. "I floated alone for I don't know how long,  
  
and then Mimete and the Nemesis found me and saved me just barely from death. And now I'm  
  
stranded here."  
  
"Well, that won't be indefinite," Dr. Tomoe assured me. "I'm sure we can get another  
  
boat's attention with our radio and get you passage home, or at least to a mainland where you can  
  
make contact with your family and arrange for transport home from there. I'll have Greg set to  
  
work on it first thing in the morning."  
  
"Thank you," I said. "I'm really grateful for all this. I don't want to be a burden or  
  
anything."  
  
"Oh, don't worry about it," Mimete said. "We have plenty of food and drink to go  
  
around, it's no problem. Besides, it's the least we can do for you. Just because we left  
  
civilization doesn't mean we stopped being civilized!"  
  
"Um...if I could maybe ask," I started slowly, "Why are you all here? And what are you  
  
gonna do with all those animals?"  
  
"The animals are for experiments I and my two colleagues here are conducting," Tomoe  
  
answered. "Before departing civilization, I was conducting experiments into an amazing new field  
  
of research, and many of my peers, my fellow scientists, starting making noise about some kind  
  
of...moral...dilemma, or some such."  
  
"So we came here to conduct our research in private," Kaolinite stated. "And in the past  
  
twelve years we've made many strides. Soon our research is sure to pay off!"  
  
"So what kind of research are you doing?" I asked. "Medicine of some kind?"  
  
"No," Tomoe replied. "I'm afraid I can't go into the nature of our research too much  
  
right now, Ms. Rini. It needs to remain just between those of us working on it. Not even Hotaru  
  
or Melanie will let on about it, they know better than to tell secrets to outsiders."  
  
"Ah, come on," I said in a slightly mischievious tone of voice. "Just one little hint? I  
  
won't tell anyone, promise! Please?!"  
  
"No way!" Hotaru snapped. "Until dad says we can, we tell _no one_ from the outside  
  
world!"  
  
"And for your own safety," Tomoe then continued more gently, "I must ask that you stay  
  
away from the laboratory at all times. Dr. Mimete will, no, _Hotaru_ will point it out for you on  
  
your way back to your room after dinner. Oh, and if you decide to step outside the outer walls,  
  
for any reason, it would be wise of you not to stray too far from the compound; again, for your  
  
own protection."  
  
"Okay, the lab I understand," I said carefully, "but why would I need to..."  
  
"Like he said, for your own safety, kiddo," Mimete cut in. "Trust me, you _don't_ want  
  
to run into what's out there."  
  
"Oh...okay," I relented. Sometimes, as I was to learn in due time, it was better not to  
  
push. At this point, Tomoe changed the subject to current events in the outside world, and even  
  
asked me for my two cents on the activities of the world at large as we continued our meal. I  
  
must say, at this point he seemed a likable enough man. But then again, I imagine he would have  
  
put on the same airs to anyone new and stranded upon his private isle.  
  
I will not dull this record with moment by moment accounts of what happened from then  
  
through the next few days, but I shall highlight. Once my first dinner upon Tomoe's island was  
  
done, Hotaru did as he bid her and showed me where the lab was so I would know where not to  
  
go, and then after doodling in my new room some more, I came down to the parlor and tried to  
  
offer my assistance on the jigsaw puzzle, and for the most point just tried to be friends with  
  
Hotaru and Melanie, who still seemed troubled at my presence in their home. About an hour later  
  
everyone started turning in, and realizing my own exhaustion, I returned to my room and retired  
  
for the night as well.  
  
The next day, I spent my time again trying to get to know Hotaru and Melanie, and while  
  
beginning to accept my presence, they were still more wary about me than I felt I deserved. Later  
  
Mimete came by the lounge and we traded idle banter, and then she went on to where she was  
  
headed right then - I think to check on some of the animals brought in with her the day prior - and  
  
of Kaolinite I saw none.  
  
That afternoon after having lunch and a bath, I decided to walk around the yard outside  
  
the house, and took a close look at the vegetable and fruit trees, then found myself wandering  
  
over to the animal storage house, and trying to open the door.  
  
"Little...mistress?" a voice asked, and I turned to see Unazuki staring at me.  
  
"Hi, Unazuki wasn't it?" I greeted her. Then, deciding to experiment with my supposed  
  
absolute authority over her, I asked, "Hey, could you open this for me? I wanna take a look  
  
inside." Unazuki looked at me for a moment longer, then came up and started to work on  
  
opening the door when the man with the wavy red hair I'd seen helping move things around the  
  
day before walked up.  
  
"Unazuki," he said. "Orders from Doctor. New mistress not to be let into storage hut  
  
until further notice."  
  
"Why?" Unazuki grunted.  
  
"Not say. Just tell not to let new mistress in," he replied, then looked at me, allowing me  
  
to see he had actually very pretty sky-blue eyes and an only slightly distorted face, as though it  
  
was being partly forced into being human somehow. "Hello, Mistress Rini. I be Nephrite, Keeper  
  
of Grounds. Nice to meet you."  
  
"Hello, Nephrite," I said. "It's nice to meet you, too. Are you sure you can't just give me  
  
a little peek?"  
  
"Doctor said, gave order, was very firm," Nephrite stated, just as firmly I would add.   
  
"Can not disobey Doctor."  
  
"Umm, what if you just lift me up so I can look in the window?" I asked. "You said that  
  
Dr. Tomoe said not to let me _go_ inside the hut, you didn't say anything about just _looking_  
  
inside it." It looked as though I had succeeded in outwitting him, as he paused to consider that  
  
logic for a moment, but Unazuki's face lit up in delight as she moved to lift me as desired.  
  
"Yes, only...say...not...go...in...not...say...not...look...in," she said in her somewhat  
  
annoyingly slow speech. As she lifted me, I glanced at her hands, and noticed for the first time  
  
that they were also malformed, missing both thumbs and pinkies!  
  
"Uh, Unazuki...your hands..." I said slowly.  
  
"I...three...man..." she said, as though it were obvious. "You...five...man...little...  
  
mistress." I glanced at Nephrite's hands, and noted suddenly that he was equally devoid of  
  
pinkies, and only his left hand had a thumb; and the other had two middle fingers between the  
  
index and ring fingers. At this point my attention from the somewhat alarming irregularities in my  
  
fellows was distracted by Nephrite finally reaching a decision.  
  
"One look, brief, no more," he stated firmly, and Unazuki held me up to the window, and  
  
I glanced inside. As expected, the walls held a row of cages each, and at this time I could only  
  
barely make out the movement of any animals within the closest ones to the front door. Thinking  
  
on it now, I realize I may have seen something moving around in there that was less animal, and  
  
more human...  
  
But I doubt I'll ever be sure.  
  
A little while later I found myself near the tower, and decided to climb up and look inside  
  
the small lookout deck that lay at the top, and found it held a telescope, two or three pairs of  
  
binoculars hanging on hooks hammered into the posts around the area, a small table holding  
  
recently used dishes, and a complex wireless radio system that seemed to be hooked to a cable  
  
that lead up a post and out onto the roof of the tower, presumably to the antennae dish that I had  
  
seen earlier.  
  
Greg was sitting at the wireless equipment, listening to the airways on a headset, so I let  
  
myself inside and quietly glanced at the equipment until he noticed me. His chair was surrounded  
  
by a waist-high(to a grown-up, chest high to me) banister that had one opening on his right for  
  
him to get in and out of. It was several moments before he did notice me, and he seemed both  
  
surprised and happy to see me.  
  
"Hello, Mistress Rini," he said. "Why you here?"  
  
"I was bored," I replied. "I thought I'd take a look at what was up here."  
  
"Is Greg's machine, Greg run, hear many things," Greg told me, and I had to staunch a  
  
light giggle.  
  
"So, have you done as the Doctor said you would?" I asked. He stared at me blankly, so I  
  
added, "He said he'd have you radio the mainland to have someone come and pick me up so I can  
  
go home?"  
  
"Ah, yes!" he said. "Greg has done, send word earlier, waiting for answer."  
  
"You're still waiting?" I blinked. "Maybe you should try again." Greg seemed to think  
  
about that for a moment, then sat down and flipped a switch which, I can only guess, turned on  
  
the transmitter.  
  
"This is Greg, Repeat, This Greg. Over," he said into a microphone. "I am on island  
  
owned by Doctor Souichi Tomoe, at .....," he then spoke a series of navigating coordinates which  
  
I didn't understand nor remember. "Request any ship within two to three days away to come for  
  
purpose of collect one stranded person for to carry back to mainlands. Please come back soon.  
  
Over!" I rested my arms on the banister as he re-flipped the first switch and flipped another to  
  
turn on the receiver, and then waited.  
  
After a few moments, his face lit up, a response had come in, and then his face fell. I  
  
looked at him, silently asking for commentary, or at least what was wrong. He flipped a third  
  
switch, turning on a speaker so I could hear.  
  
"I repeat again," a male voice stated from the grill. "War in Europe escalating, all seacraft  
  
within your area redirected to support combat against Germany. All American seacraft avoiding  
  
general area in attempt to maintain neutrality in conflict until further notice. No available seacraft  
  
at this time. Possibility of available seacraft to rescue refugee in three or four weeks, more  
  
possible within five to seven months. Over."  
  
"Weeks?" I said. "Months?" Greg ignored me for the moment, and re-flipped the first  
  
two switches to again transmit.  
  
"Greg understand, repeat, Greg understand situation," he said into the microphone. "Will  
  
wait contact from first boat can come. Over." He flipped the switches again. A moment later the  
  
radio man responded again.  
  
"Received and confirmed, island," he said. "Will notify your position of first available  
  
craft. Over and out." Greg then switched off the speaker and glanced at me.  
  
"Sorry, Mistress Rini," he said. "No boats can come, you can no go home yet."  
  
"Yeah," I sighed, resting my head on my arms. "Guess I'm going to be here longer than I  
  
thought I'd be." It occurs to me now that I should have suggested that Greg tell the radio man  
  
my name and parents' names, as my family's standing might have encouraged him to find an  
  
available ship sooner, or at the very least pass on to mother and father that I was still alive and  
  
alright, none the worse for wear...yet.  
  
As I stated before, I'm just a kid.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
And thus Rini's stay on a tropical island with only herself, a few scientists, and two other  
  
preteens and oddballs begins. Next time: peace and complacency turn suddenly to fear and utter  
  
terror! Course, that goes without saying, doesn't it?  
  
More soon, but so you know, I'm knee deep in several projects right; this, finishing  
  
Roman Legends, and one other which is kind of a one shot which, hopefully, will be done by the  
  
end of the week. Later! 


	3. How Rini Learned Of The Beast Folk

Ah, you're awake. Now the experiments can begin in earnest! Please, don't struggle, it'll  
  
only wrinkle the restraints. MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, I'm good. Rini, on the other hand, is  
  
about to find that she's in a world of trouble! But first, the disclaimers:  
  
Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that  
  
order, none of whom are me.  
  
The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.  
  
_This_ is emphasis, and *this* is thought.  
  
And now, the terror continues...  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
The Island Of Dr. Tomoe  
  
by Scorpinac  
  
Chapter 3: How Rini Learned Of The Beast Folk  
  
I eventually adopted a routine for my stay on the island - wake up, have breakfast with  
  
Mimete, and sometimes Hotaru and Melanie(though they seemed to want to avoid me), take a  
  
bath, wander the grounds striking up the odd conversation or two with the various servants, try to  
  
become friends with Hotaru and Melanie, get an update from Greg, have lunch, more  
  
conversations, now with the added possibility of talking to Kaolinite or Mimete, admire the view  
  
of the ocean, take a walk on the beach, have dinner, join the others in the lounge, then off to bed  
  
and sleep.  
  
In short, nothing of any real interest occurred for many days after my arrival on the island,  
  
and for a brief while I started to content myself by seeing it as my new home. Though I had  
  
arrived with only the one set of clothing to my name, the dress and underwear I'd been wearing  
  
when I was "dismissed" from the Millennium, Mimete made it a personal point once she heard  
  
how long it would be until a boat was likely to come to sew three new dresses and undergarments  
  
for me, and Tomoe even "inherited" a few to me from Hotaru.  
  
The only thing they couldn't give me were a pair of shoes since neither Hotaru nor  
  
Melanie had any - and I sometimes wonder if they ever did. Not that it really mattered, by the  
  
time I had landed on Tomoe's island I had already long become accustomed to being barefoot  
  
anyway. Only one thing truly bothered me.  
  
From the day after I arrived on the island I could hear what sounded like the Cougar that  
  
had ridden in with me roaring and screeching from somewhere in the house - the laboratory, in  
  
fact. I could also occasionally hear loud, animal like noises out in the island's jungle at night  
  
while trying to go to sleep, but could never get a straight answer about it from anyone no matter  
  
how I asked.  
  
By the eighth day I noticed that the noise from within the house began to change slightly,  
  
less animal, less bestial, and more into something else, I wasn't quite sure what. Then one day the  
  
sounds became closer to human, like a person was suffering and in great pain. It was on the  
  
nineteenth day of my stay on the island that things changed, when my curiosity finally got the best  
  
of me.  
  
I was heading down the hall to go wander the grounds after my daily bath when I started  
  
to pass the hall that lead to the laboratory, and heard the noises again. I stopped and glanced  
  
down the hall towards the door to the lab, listening to the moans and screams of whatever lied  
  
within, and wanting to know if something, or someone, needed help, I turned and started to walk  
  
quietly closer to the door, despite that I had been implicitly instructed to never venture anywhere  
  
near there.  
  
Finally I was at the door, and pressed my ear to it, and sure enough, the horrid, anguished  
  
wailing of whatever it was came from the other side. My curiosity won out in seconds, and I tried  
  
the door, but it was locked tight. I began pondering about how I could get inside when I heard  
  
footsteps from somewhere nearby. As they got closer to where I was, I ducked into a closet a  
  
couple feet away, leaving the door open just enough for me to peek through.  
  
A few moments later Kaolinite came up to the laboratory door, pulled out a key, unlocked  
  
it, and stepped inside. As the door closed behind her, I jumped out of my hiding place and caught  
  
it, nudging it open enough for me to slip inside as well. At last, I was in Doctor Tomoe's  
  
laboratory. And what I saw there will stay with me for the rest of my days.  
  
The room was filled with science stuff - test tubes, sample dishes, bottles, jars, pans, blood  
  
bags, microscopes, beakers in various shapes and sizes, Bunsen burners(my nan taught me what  
  
those are and what they looked like), and some of those metal rings for holding tubes and beakers  
  
over a Bunsen burner. A small table was set to one side with operating tools on it - scalpels,  
  
saws, scissors, giant tweezers(Mimete later told me they're called Forceps), mini-mirrors(like  
  
what a dentist uses?), and mini-drills - some of which looked recently cleaned.  
  
Against one wall was a sink with other various science/operating tools, some of them with  
  
dried blood on them. And in the center lay an operating table, a machine beside it monitoring the  
  
heart and breath rate of the "patient", along with an IV bag dripping clear liquid down a plastic  
  
tube into the "person" on the table.  
  
And when I say "person" and "patient", I am being too kind. In truth, at first I could see  
  
very little of who or what lay on the table. Between me and the subject lay an upright rack filled  
  
with tubes and beakers, various unknown fluids flowing through them in a variety of colors, and,  
  
of course, Kaolinite, who stood next to the table near the head, obscuring the top of the person  
  
completely from view. But the wails I'd followed most definitely came from the subject on the  
  
table.  
  
"Let's see now," Kaolinite said. "Yes, tissue replacement and alteration seems to be  
  
taking hold nicely. I'll just give you your next shot, mark it, and prep you for your next surgery."   
  
So saying, she turned to the side and picked up a booster, a small bottle, filled the needle with  
  
fluid from said bottle, returned the bottle, and then turned back to the "patient", and a loud,  
  
pained cry from the helpless soul a moment later, which drew a small jump from me, indicated  
  
that it had been injected with the fluid.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kaolinite commented idly as she pulled the needle from the  
  
booster and chucked it, then turned and moved away from the table as she dropped the booster  
  
back where she got it. Gathering my courage, I moved around the tube rack for a closer look at  
  
who or what was on the operating table...and gasped out loud when I saw it.  
  
What lay there looked to be in the general shape of a man, but with fur and carefully sewn  
  
shut incisions all over his body. It was strapped down, and the face was contorted, not really  
  
human, but more like a beast's. Everything about it was horrific, and it seemed as though parts  
  
had been sewn on, and others cut off, in a horrible display of mutilation and disfigurement. And  
  
as I watched, it continued to moan and wail in pain, very much alive and awake.  
  
Unfortunately, my gasp of shock and revulsion had gotten Kaolinite's attention, who's  
  
voice suddenly broke into my terrified state:  
  
"Hey! What are you doing in here!? How did you get in?!" I did not answer, I did not  
  
even turn to look at her, I merely turned on my heels and ran for the door, tore threw it and then  
  
the house, until I found my way out onto the grounds, and I did not stop. I ran to the gate,  
  
pausing only to shove Unazuki aside and turn the gate wheel as fast and hard as I could, opening  
  
it in only a few moments, and then dove out of the compound, even as Unazuki, in her slow,  
  
drawling speech, plaintively called after me, entreating me to stay and tell her what was wrong, at  
  
least I think that's what she called, I wasn't paying that much attention.  
  
My first thought was to reboard my lifeboat, head back out to sea, take my chances, but  
  
glancing at the beach, I immediately remembered why that was currently impossible. At some  
  
point after my landing on the island, either Mimete, Kaolinite, or perhaps Tomoe himself, had two  
  
or more of the servants pull the boat fully onto the beach and had it left sitting there flipped upside  
  
down. Even if I'd had the strength to push it back into the water, I'd never be able to flip it back  
  
up! So, with no where else to go, I dove headlong into the island jungle.  
  
I would like to state for the record at this point that I am now well aware of the fact that  
  
running into the jungle was probably the dumbest thing I could have done, but please try to  
  
understand - after seeing what lay trapped in the laboratory, I was utterly afraid for my life in that  
  
house. I was convinced that Dr. Tomoe and his assistants had been performing unneeded surgery  
  
on a human being, and I was equally convinced they might decide to operate on me next, now that  
  
I had seen their secret.  
  
And so I ran, like a frightened animal runs from a predator, into the seeming safety of the  
  
jungle woods. I cannot say for certain how long I ran, but I can say that the sun looked to be at  
  
about the midday level when I finally did stop and catch my breath, my side threatening to tear  
  
wide even as I stood and huffed like the big bad wolf before the door of the little pigs. I breathed  
  
sharply for several moments before I finally noticed what lay before me on the ground, something  
  
that did _not_ help my demeanor in the slightest:  
  
It was a rabbit, and someone or something had ripped off its head and torn open its body.   
  
In fact, I don't think the whole thing was there anymore - it looked as though some of it had been  
  
torn out and carried away, but I could not be sure. I do know that I could not spy several key  
  
organs in the remains.  
  
After vacating what little remained of my breakfast via its original entrance, I paused to  
  
take a good look at my current surroundings, and found I had _no_ idea where I was - I was lost!  
  
But considering what I still at that moment presumed to be the alternative, I accepted it. Therefor  
  
I began to scan around for anything that looked like food or water, mostly water, and anything to  
  
tell me where I was.  
  
After several moments more, and a few minor scrapes and cuts from branches I had to  
  
push my way past in order to proceed, I emerged into a clearing that held a small stream leading  
  
into a moderate pool of water, either a lake or a lagoon. And just when I had thought myself to  
  
have come to a relative place of safety, I was again presented with danger, for I was not the only  
  
one to have come to that stream at that moment.  
  
Less than thirty feet away from me, kneeling down on all fours, and slurping noisily away  
  
at the water, was a monster! It had the general shape of a man, but was covered in light orange  
  
fur with multiple black spots therein, its feet were bare and looked more feline than human, its  
  
hands, what I could immediately see of them, looked to be missing one or more fingers, and those  
  
it did have seemed to end in sharp claw-like nails. Its face was the most horrible, so far removed  
  
from anything human I had ever seen it could not possibly belong to the same race as I. It was  
  
distorted, with a rather feline mouth cuffed with whiskers, now damp from the stream, and its ears  
  
were partially pointy, and erupted from the top of the skull, its nose was short and seemingly  
  
squashed against its face. The only thing remotely human about it was the fact that it wore a pair  
  
of simple brown pants that seemed a bit stretched on its frame.  
  
Again I let out a gasp, despite myself, but this time it did not seem to notice, at least at  
  
first, or it didn't care. Deciding I did not wish to wind up on its dinner menu, I started to step  
  
backwards into the jungle slowly, but before I got more than a few steps away, my foot fell on a  
  
twig which snapped instantly, and the monster's head snapped up and stared at me. I will never  
  
forget those eyes - they were vertical black slits in the center of almost pure golden orbs.  
  
In that instant my fear was overwhelmed by awe, wonder, and curiosity. *What could  
  
have crafted such a creature?* My mind was transfixed, my body frozen and unable to move any  
  
further as the creature and I continued to stare at one another; and then, it turned and bolted away  
  
into the woods beyond, moving on all fours in a very elegant and feline manner at absolutely  
  
incredible speed.  
  
*Yes,* I thought, *It is very like a large, misshapen cat!* My curiosity now in full  
  
command, I moved as fast as I could after it, following in its wake back into the thick woods,  
  
deeper than ever. I struggled through the trees again for only ten or so minutes, however, before  
  
I admitted to myself that I had lost sight of the creature. Worse, I was even more lost than  
  
before. I could not even see the stream or lake I had just come from.  
  
With again no other recourse, I began to push through the woods around me, seeking  
  
something, anything that would ensure my survival. Chance was with me, and about a half hour  
  
or so later I tripped into another small stream - or the same one, I am not really sure - and quickly  
  
drank my fill. When my thirst was eased, I saw nearby a bush covered in blackberries, and  
  
deciding to take a chance, attempted to refill my belly. The berries were far bitterer than what I  
  
was normally accustomed to, but I felt no ill effects to suggest poison, and managed four or five  
  
handfuls before I could take no more, due in large part to the taste.  
  
With my stomach thus calmed, I sat down and leaned against a tree and let myself drift off  
  
to sleep for a nap.  
  
The sun looked to be somewhat near ready to fall below the horizon when I woke, and  
  
wishing to find something more flavorable to eat than the berries in my immediate vicinity, I began  
  
to follow the river. I had been walking maybe ten or twenty minutes when I realized something  
  
was watching me. Stopping and glancing around, I at first saw nothing, then noted what looked  
  
to be a shape crouching in the trees a few feet away.  
  
"Hello?!" I said nervously. "You don't want to eat me, do you? I'm sure I taste just  
  
awful..." There was no response, so I continued walking, but casting my eyes over my shoulder  
  
from time to time, I realized the shape was indeed following after me. Just as I was considering  
  
the possibility of breaking into a run, though, I came into another clearing.  
  
I stopped to examine my new surroundings, and found it to be a simple, empty, grass  
  
covered area devoid of trees, and little else. However, as I stared into the clearing, I saw two  
  
things of note. One - an actual path to one side, leading away, though to where I had no idea.   
  
And Two - three squat, short creatures frolicking in the waning light of day.  
  
These creatures had almost stubby feet, no truly visible toes that I could detect, and wore  
  
only brief loincloths over their "special" spots. Their bellies were slightly extended, as though fat,  
  
and their hands had only three fingers as far as I could tell. The faces were decidedly inhuman,  
  
their eyes squinting and small, their mouths little more than slits across their faces, their noses  
  
little stubs that ended with a flat surface on the front.  
  
The ears were normally placed, and it looked as though some attempt at hair growth was  
  
in play on the tops of their heads, as one had brown hair, one had medium dark blue hair in a small  
  
pony tail down the back of its head, and one had light red/auburn hair in two tiny "dog ears", one  
  
upon each side of the head. I detected that two were female, the brown haired one a male, by the  
  
fact that the other two also wore simple loincloths over their chests, despite having nothing to  
  
really hide at present.  
  
As I watched, the one with blue hair began swinging around a tree branch like it was a  
  
sword, and the other girl, the red head, began dodging around it, acting as though she admired the  
  
other, seemingly having "stars" in her eyes. The third ran around both of them, every now and  
  
then grabbing up some grass and tossing it in the air around the others. Their movements were  
  
often times jerky, as though their legs were very stiff, and unwieldy. The noises they made as they  
  
frolicked sounded nothing at all to me like speech, but more like the squeals of young pigs rolling  
  
around merrily in the mud.  
  
Deciding to take my chances on the path, I carefully stepped away from the stream and  
  
eased my way around the clearing toward the path, trying to keep as much distance between me  
  
and these new creatures as possible, not wanting to interrupt their curious play. But just as I was  
  
in reach of my goal, the red haired girl spotted me, and drove up a fuss. Before I knew what was  
  
happening, all three were surrounding me and all but dragging me back into the center of the  
  
clearing.  
  
Not wanting to be hurt by them, I moved with them, and quietly watched as they started  
  
to dance around me, trying, as far as I could tell, to get me to dance or play with them, every now  
  
and then pulling on my dress as though they wished to disrobe me. As I carefully observed them  
  
from up close, I found they were no taller than myself, and it occurred to me that they might have  
  
thought me one of them. I also found myself thinking more and more of how animal like they  
  
were, how porcine. Yes, that was it! They were very much like pigs, in almost every respect, and  
  
yet something human also seemed to be evident, giving them a truly unnerving aspect.  
  
As they continued to frolic around me, I took a chance and began to move as they did,  
  
joining the "game", and they started to squeal in delight, which to me confirmed my earlier  
  
assumption. I continued to participate in their odd dance for several minutes more before I saw  
  
an opening, and then I dashed out of their circle. Unfortunately, they took exception, and began  
  
to fuss further, prompting me to dash onto the path and away as fast as I could, and not once did I  
  
look back until I was far enough down the path that I could no longer hear them, and then only to  
  
make sure they had not followed me.  
  
Once I had again caught my breath, I took a look around myself, attempting to determine,  
  
for the millionth time that day, where I was. I could not rightly tell where the path lead me, but  
  
right then anywhere was preferable so long as it wasn't with those pig-like creatures. And just as  
  
I decided to continue walking down the path, I felt the same sensation of being watched.   
  
Glancing around, it took me only seconds this time to pick out the dark shape in the trees of my  
  
earlier pursuer, who apparently had not lost sight of me for even a moment.  
  
I immediately started walking, resolutely following the path and keeping my eyes away  
  
from the shape that followed me, and continued in this for I am not sure how long, stopping only  
  
when I reached a fork in the path. As I stared at the split before me and pondered on which was  
  
the best way to go, I heard a rustling. Turning to my "shadow", I noted that it was still keeping  
  
its distance, watching me from afar, and for the first time I realized I could make out its eyes -  
  
vertical black slits in the center of almost pure golden orbs. It was the cat-creature from the  
  
lagoon! And then another monstrosity erupted onto the path, landing in the middle of the left  
  
hand branch of the fork.  
  
The new terror was covered in brown fur, black shorts, and a loose white shirt. Its feet  
  
looked crooked, as though it stood consistently on tip-toe, its hands were four fingered and  
  
clawed, its nose a black stub in the middle of its face and looked wet. Its mouth was more like a  
  
pair of jaws, filled with pointed teeth, the top row of which protruded slightly giving it a feral,  
  
vicious look. The eyes were coal orbs behind slightly drooping brown bangs, and the ears almost  
  
vanished into the side of the head. The head itself was more round than any I knew, the hair on  
  
the top unkempt and straggly everywhere.  
  
It saw me almost at once, and stared at me for several moments. I felt sure that this  
  
creature, if the cat-thing didn't, would devour me for food, and then it did something even more  
  
horrifying. It spoke.  
  
"Five man..." it growled in a very male voice, and I must report that I was unable in the  
  
least to repress the shiver that then ran up and down my spine. It took a step toward me, and fear  
  
dominated me once more; I turned right and dove headlong straight back into the woods, pushing  
  
my way past branches, shrubbery, bushes and everything else to get as far away from this latest  
  
monster as I could. And only moments into my newest flight, I heard something following me,  
  
pacing me. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw the cat-creature _still_ following me! I was now  
  
totally convinced it was toying with me before finally pouncing and devouring me.  
  
Now completely and utterly consumed by panic, I pushed forward, trying to go faster,  
  
faster than the monster that wanted to eat me, faster than sound, faster than light! Anything to  
  
regain my freedom, to save my life from death. And then my foot hit something - a root, a  
  
branch, a rock, I don't know - and I tumbled forward, passing suddenly out of the woods as I did  
  
so, and landed with a "THUMP" on the sandy beach.  
  
I had to gaze around for a moment to assure myself that I had truly escaped the woods  
  
and certain doom, and then sighed with relief as I pulled myself up to sit properly on my rear. I  
  
glanced at my foot, only a slight stub and minor scrape, and I started to relax myself a little with  
  
the thought that I was finally safe when two strong hands suddenly grabbed me by the arms and  
  
hauled me to my feet!  
  
As my mind whirled on the fact that I had been caught by my human hunters, and my  
  
captors began to brusquely walk me back up the beach toward the compound, which to my  
  
surprise was less than a mile or so away, I glanced to my left to see who held me. There, holding  
  
my left arm by one hand, was Kaolinite! Her expression did nothing to hide her ire at me, and I  
  
could tell she was all too eager to hand down whatever form of discipline suited her - no doubt  
  
strapping me to the operating table and beginning my "surgery" that very night, or so I thought at  
  
the time.  
  
I then turned to my right to see who else was holding me, expecting to see the maddened,  
  
bespectacled eyes of Dr. Tomoe himself. It wasn't. Of all people, it was the one person I had  
  
hoped would have let me go, let me escape. Staring at me, a cross, upset look on her face, was  
  
the woman who had saved me from death, and had at times looked on me almost as my own  
  
mother looks on me.  
  
Mimete.  
  
"You shouldn't have done that, kiddo," she said, a tinge of concern in her voice. "We  
  
told you to stay out of the lab for your own protection. I told you you didn't want to know what  
  
was out in the woods. You only have yourself to blame."  
  
As I felt myself go numb with fear, I was hauled back up and into the compound, and  
  
towards the house, the misshapen servants and valets watching from the side, some looking  
  
unconcerned, others looking forlorn. As I neared the house itself, I saw Hotaru standing just  
  
outside the door, looking at me with anger in her eyes, Melanie watching me with a scowl just  
  
behind her. I freaked.  
  
"NO!" I screamed, beginning to thrash about, trying to break free from my captors. "No!   
  
I don't want to be cut up! I don't need surgery!"  
  
"Surgery?" Mimete said with a note surprise in her voice. "Why would we... wait... no...  
  
you mean you think...? That was the cougar!"  
  
"No!" I screamed again, then blinked. "No, I...the cougar?"  
  
"Yes!" Mimete said. "Just relax, kiddo."  
  
"No! You're lying!" I snapped, my mind flashing back to what I had seen on the  
  
operating table. "It was human! It was a man! You mutilated him!" Before I could protest  
  
further, Kaolinite's free hand suddenly came down across my cheek, hard! I fell instantly into  
  
silence, and was subdued. I had never been slapped before. I had always been reproached with  
  
words and grounding, sometimes even confiscation of my toys for my bad behavior. Only once in  
  
my memory do I recall doing something that caused my father to take his hand to my rear, and I  
  
had made sure never to do anything afterward to warrant a repeat performance.  
  
A short while later I was back in my room, and Kaolinite and Mimete dropped me on the  
  
floor, Kaolinite leaving immediately in a huff. Mimete stopped at the door, and her face softened  
  
slightly.  
  
"You'll have to stay in here for a while," she said. "Dr. Tomoe will talk to you later and  
  
try to explain what it is we're doing. Please, just listen and hear him out. Once you understand,  
  
you'll agree with what we're doing. I know you will." And with that, she closed the door, I  
  
heard a click, and she was gone.  
  
Refusing to give in easily, I immediately got up and grabbed the doorknob, and twisted as  
  
hard as I could, but it was securely locked. For a moment I considered escaping out the window,  
  
but they had apparently taken that into account as well, and had locked it, too, adding an extra  
  
bolt lock on the outside...somehow.  
  
With no other way open to me, I began throwing my own weight against the door, over  
  
and over and over again, praying it would give way. I stopped after about half an hour or so. It  
  
hadn't even been dented...  
  
I was trapped...  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
So much for _that_ escape attempt! And for the record, the "pig creatures" were Miharu  
  
Akiyama, Nanako, and Kotaro Honjo from the SuperS season(various, the last two are from Rei's  
  
and Lita's/Mina's upgrade eps.). And if you didn't guess, the "bear man" was Chad(Rei's would-  
  
be beau?)! Next time - the "good" doctor tells all! Be there!!!  
  
Remember to R&R! 


	4. Doctor Tomoe Explains

Feeling better now? Oh, good, the transplants took. What's that? You don't like cats? But these tiger paws look so good on you! Heh, heh, MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 'Kay, I'm back. Rini has attempted to escape the compound, and discovered some...interesting wildlife. And now the good Dr. Tomoe will try to explain said wildlife! But first...disclaimers!

Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that order, none of whom are me.

The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.

**This** is emphasis, and _this_ is thought. And ((this)) is auditory/visual flashback.

And now, the terror continues...

_**The Island Of Dr. Tomoe**_

by Scorpinac

Chapter 4: Dr. Tomoe Explains

I wasn't sure how long I sat on my bed, waiting for them to come for me. I was still convinced they intended to put me on the operating table next and horribly mutilate me for life, if I was to survive the surgery at all. I do know that by the time I next heard a sound at the door, it was pitch black outside.

When the door finally opened again, Greg timidly stepped in. His eyes showed he was very nervous, but determined to do the job that had been given him.

"Mistress Rini?" he asked quietly.

"Yes?" I replied. "Have you come to escort me to the lab for my torture session? 'Cause if so, I'll just throw myself out this window right now."

"No, no!" Greg snapped in shock. "No need kill yourself. I only here take you to dinner. Doctor wishes to talk, to tell you what he does, how he made Greg and others."

"I don't want to hear what he...what was that last bit?" I started to get huffy, then froze as the last words he said connected with my brain.

"How Doctor made Greg and others on island," Greg stated. "Except Mistresses Kaolinite and Mimete and Young Mistress Hotaru, they come with Doctor when island claimed."

"Yeah, I know that...he made you? But you don't look...you seem so...how...what...?" I was now thoroughly confused, and then a horrid thought occurred to me.

(("That was the Cougar!")) Mimete's words echoed in my mind. And the scene in the laboratory that morning also replayed itself in my head. Could she have been telling the truth? But then...why was a cat now in the general shape of a...and then the monster I had seen at the lagoon returned to my mind, and the pig creatures that wanted to play with me, and the thing that was like a bear, yet not a bear, and suddenly I felt a wave of revulsion. I looked back at Greg, and this time **really** looked at him!

His face was moderately distorted, with brown fur in spots here and there, and he was slightly slumped over. Looking in his face now, I realized his brow was sloped more like a primate's than a person's, if only very slightly, and even his nose was sort of ape-like. How had I missed it before! Probably because...I wasn't looking.

"Are you...a monkey?" I breathed slowly.

"No, Greg start as Ape, great Ape, powerful, then Doctor make me smart, make me man," Greg said. "Come, Doctor tell you more, tell you better." My curiosity finally winning me over, I got up and followed him out of the room and down and around to the dining hall, where Mimete, Kaolinite, Hotaru, Melanie, and most important of all, Dr. Tomoe awaited.

I quietly sat down and they waited until I was comfortable and served with a meal before Dr. Tomoe began to speak. He waved Greg away so that only us humans were present.

"By now you're probably wondering about what you saw in the forest, but first, if you would tell us what you did see, just out of curiosity," he stated, and requested.

"Well, first I ran into this rather beautiful cat-like thing at a lagoon while it was getting a drink, and then I ran into these three pig-like things not much bigger than I am that wanted me to play with them, and then this giant, sorta bear-ish thing jumped into my path and called me a five-man...come to think of it, Unazuki called me that once..." I said, and only then realized that I was rambling. "And it doesn't matter 'cause I still think you're just trying to keep me fooled til you can start doing surgery on me like you did that poor man in the lab!"

"What man? Oh, do you mean the new one we're making from the Cougar Mimete brought us?" Hotaru asked, and I must confess that her totally calm attitude about it shocked me to no end!

"Rini, would you humor me and tell me exactly what they looked like, the ones you saw in the forest?" Tomoe asked patiently, so I gave a quick description of what I had seen, to which he nodded. "Kakeru, Miharu, Kotaru, Nanako, and Chad. Alright, then. So you know, there are considerably more than just those out there, they've built themselves a whole community area near the center of the island if you ever want to go see it, but I would recommend waiting until one of us has an errand there and go with them rather than go by yourself.

"As to where the creatures came from, I created them myself, mostly with help from Kaolinite and Mimete, through purely scientific means. I imagine you have no idea what a vivisection is?" I nodded in the negative, and he continued. "Very well, a vivisection is when a scientist or doctor cuts a piece of flesh from one part of a body, and grafts it, sews it back on, in another place. Such procedures are used to cover missing skin in areas where too big a section is missing for it to grow back properly. It's called 'skin grafting', and is employed by many surgeons as we speak.

Vivisection is also used to examine the inside of a living thing while it is alive, and to move organs around as needed to treat a problem. This is what I've generally been doing. I have been using vivisection to alter the form and shape of animals into a more human one. Such things have been within man's grasp for centuries, yet none till I have had the courage, the raw stamina, to take it up as a means within itself! As stated, men have surgically moved bits of skin from one part of the body to another for grafts, and the subject is visited by the author Victor Hugo in 'Le' Homme qui Rit.' Have you read it?" Again, I had to shake my head no. In fact, until then I had never even heard of the book! He continued, "A pity, but no matter. The point remains that I had seen the potential for vivisection, but no one brave enough to pursue it to the utmost extremes.

So I began to experiment in my lab. Small things at first, but then I tried to brave things further, and one of my assistants, I never really did find out which, betrayed me, and I was ostracized for my theories and thrown from the academy in disgrace. But I wasn't about to let that stop me, so I began seeking a place to work in private, in peace, and thus, with Hotaru in my arms and Kaolinite, who has always supported me and my endeavors, even through my wife, Himeko's, death, I came here, to this island. Back then, the only others who knew I had come here in self made exile was a band of African natives, a ruly bunch who aided in building this house for me and my family."

"Surely you could have gotten better work somewhere else? Couldn't you?" I cut in, asking Kaolinite.

"No, because I believed, and still believe, in the Doctor's work," Kaolinite answered. "I spoke out for him after the betrayal, and was equally ostracized for it. They were so jealous of the Doctor's brilliance, they put out fliers and a post to all other colleges and universities filled with slander and lies about our experiments. We were cut off at the knees, as it were. We had no where else to go, and only limited funds to make a decision. Thus, as he said, we chose to come here."

"And what about you?" I stared into Hotaru's eyes. "Don't you ever want to see what's out there in the world beyond this island?"

"And get bullied in a regular 'school'?" she asked back. "Get targeted by evil men who get off on torturing little children and listening to them scream? Why would I ever want to go into that when I have paradise right here! And if you're worried about my 'education', don't. Father and Kaolinite have seen to my every need, even books and learning. I bet if we tested our IQs, I'd prove to be **much** smarter than you!"

"What about boys?" I asked. "Don't you ever want to go out and find a boyfriend?"

"Mating? Having babies?" Hotaru stared back at me. "I think I can do just fine without. And if I ever do get the overwhelming urge to mate, I can always just slake it off on one of the creatures should self ministrations prove inadequate." I would like to profess at this time that I had, and still have, no idea what she was talking about! The only time I tried asking my parents where babies, and thus I, came from, they got flustered and quickly changed the subject, leaving me in the dark.

"As I was saying," Tomoe cut in, picking up where he left off. "Once I had everything set-up, and had acquired fresh animals to work with, I began to start my experiments anew. I started by altering a rabbit, but the final result was so grotesque and unpleasant that after a week I dispatched the thing out of disgust. Then I took an ape, a chimpanzee, and carefully, oh, so carefully, worked on it. Sinew by sinew, muscle by muscle, and eventually I produced a creature that greatly resembled the human form. My first great work, and an absolutely amazing accomplishment it was, and still is, for he is still very much alive!"

"You're lying!" I jumped in, for I had realized one problem with the whole concept, something that exposed the whole thing. "They can't be animals! They're humans! They have to be! They can **TALK**!"

"But of course," Tomoe continued calmly. "Tell me, what is it that keeps an animal from talking, but we humans can? I will tell you. An animal's vocal cords are structured differently, but otherwise there is no reason why they are basically mute. One of the things I discovered in my early experiments before coming to the island was that with a simple surgical alteration, the vocal cords of almost any animal can be made to resemble quite closely our own, thus making them capable of speech. Though, as you no doubt noticed, some of my alteration attempts didn't go as well as others."

"Unazuki..." I breathed.

"Yes, she's a very good example," Tomoe agreed with me. "Her vocal cords were extremely stubborn to the change, and in the end she must clearly struggle to form each word, as you noticed. But from such trials and minor failures, from the most minimal of setbacks, **progress** is made! That first ape, for instance, after his surgeries were finished, I was able to educate, to teach up to a third grade level, then introduced him to the Africans as a semi-slow stowaway, and had them continue his education further while I turned my attention to a gazelle. And learn from them he did, he even crafted his own hut as they had done, and I dare say he did better. But then one of them got angry with him, I forget what for, and he dove up a tree in panic, the accursed ape flesh growing back, seeping back, reverting him to what he once was. I was furious, and did not know what to do. Then, to my horror, my gazelle, who was no sooner finished and learning, also starting to show visible, if only minor, signs of reversion. I do not think that you can begin to imagine how livid I was.

But then fortune graced me. Kaolinite had left the island to acquire more animals for me, and met Mimete, who had just lost her own place in society due to unfortunate circumstance, and was a brilliant chemist. Like you, she was at first horrified at my creatures, and I had but six when she arrived, having experimented by then on a tiger, a wolf, an orangutang, and even a sheep, but with the same continual problems of the animal flesh growing back, reverting. It took a while to calm her, but as you will, she came to accept my work, and even developed a powerful serum which halts the reversion process, keeping them human longer and more powerfully. But in the end even the serum has proven only temporary, the animal still trying to force itself back, prompting further doses every now and then, to maintain them.

As time progressed, the creatures, as I have stated, formed their own little community, and six of the nine Africans who came with us stole our primary vessel, my once private yacht, and deserted us, leaving us with only the relatively small launch tied to the dock now. As to the other three, I must regretfully say that they have died. One had a stroke, nothing to be done, and as to the others...

You see, I have not just restrained myself to the human form. Every now and then I take two animals and mix and match parts, just to see what sort of new beast I can create, and one day I began combining a boar and a leopard, but before I finished it escaped, and slew the remaining Africans before Kaolinite and I could destroy it. Mimete hid in the house, cradling Hotaru to her chest for the most part of those four terrible days that the creature was loose as though she were her own.

But it matters not, for they have been replaced. Mimete took it upon herself to train several of the beast-folk, as she calls them, as servants and assistants, and in the end I myself took with the idea, personally teaching Greg how to operate and properly speak over the radio headset, or as well as he could muster, anyway.

And now, after almost twenty two years, counting ten among civilization, and countless efforts and experiments, you came to us, Rini. And thus, here we are. Now, do you understand my work, my endeavors? I do hope you see the fascination of it all."

I thought quietly for a moment, considering all that I had just been told. Reflecting on all the people I had seen whom I had believed to be simply malformed, and the creatures I had encountered in the woods just that day, I realized that except for those of us at that table, not one had a truly human aspect to them on closer inspection. I quietly pushed my plate, only half cleaned, away.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," I muttered aloud, and to my side, Mimete chuckled.

"Well, that brings back memories," she said. "Had sort of the same reaction myself. But you do understand now, right, kiddo?"

"You're crazy," I blurted out, and then more loudly I proclaimed as I leaped to my feet, "You're all mad scientists! Like Frankenstein and Wu Manchu and all the others in the pictures! You're all out of your minds!"

"Crazy? Mad?" Hotaru piped. "You dare to accuse my father of **insanity**!"

"If the shoe fits!" I roared despite myself. For at that moment, I did not see myself **ever** being allowed to leave the island again. I now believed they would hold me prisoner, though still allowing me to roam the island as I pleased, for the rest of my life! If they didn't decide to kill me first.

"Now, now," Tomoe jumped in, speaking in a calm and measured voice. "Settle down, girls. Settle down. Hotaru, we must give Rini time to come to terms with what she's learned. Mimete, herself, thought me mad at first, but she soon saw the light. And I know you will, too, Rini. In time."

"Never!" I yelled. "You're crazy, and that's all there is to it!"

"Why you..." Hotaru started to stand up, but Kaolinite restrained her.

"Let it go," she coached, but I could tell that I had hit too big a nerve. More to the point, I didn't really care anymore.

"I'll swim back if I have to!" I snapped. "I'm not staying, not one more second!"

"Okay, I think Rini needs to lay down and sleep on it," Tomoe stated, and, putting down her fork, Mimete stood up, took me by the shoulder, and took me back to my room. Once inside, she sat me on the bed while sitting for the moment at the desk.

"Kiddo, you really need to cool off a bit," she said. "Does it really matter if it's 'mad science' or not? I mean, just between you and me, it's not like he's gonna solve the problem in his lifetime. I doubt it'll ever spread beyond this one small island."

"Then why help him!" I snapped. I couldn't help it, I was still nervous, angry, and frightened all at once. And I did not like it!

"Nothing better to do," she replied. "Can't go home. God, I envy you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling stunned. "Why can't you go home?"

"I killed someone," she answered. "Oh, I didn't mean to, and I probably would have gotten off, but... I was dating this guy, and one night he got too touchy, and then tried to force himself on me. I struggled, grabbed the first thing that came to hand, and hit him with it. It was a broken beer bottle, and after he fell off, in a state of heightened adrenaline and abject fear for my own safety and well being...well, I, hit him several more times." I stared at her, suddenly shocked numb at her admissions. Yet...

"When I finally stopped and realized what I'd done," she continued, "I immediately went to the nearest pay-phone and called the police and reported it, gave a statement, the whole bit. I figured I'd get off as I had a **great** justification-he needed killing-defense built right in, but his father was a hoity toity politician who made up his mind about it the moment he heard what happened, and basically bought the judge against me. In a panic, I jumped bail, and met Kaolinite. She offered me an island paradise escape, and, well, the rest you know."

"That's too bad, Mimete," I said quietly. "But it doesn't change my mind about what Dr. Tomoe is doing here."

"I didn't think for a minute it would," Mimete stated. "It just felt...good, to get it out. To get it off my chest." She giggled a little, and commented, "I guess I was just using you for a little self therapy."

"Mimete," I looked at her carefully, "Do you really think Dr. Tomoe will still let me go home on the next boat? He wouldn't keep me here and lock me up just to keep me from telling anybody what he's doing, would he?"

"Oh, please!" Mimete waved the notion away. "Even he's smart enough to know that coming from you, at your age, and with everybody else on the island flatly denying it, no one's gonna believe you. At best, they'd think you were making up stories to get attention."

"But what if someone did believe me?" I asked carefully.

"Trust me, without someone backing up your story, no one will," Mimete answered confidently. She then rose and headed over to the door. "And just to make sure you don't try another stunt like earlier, I'm just gonna lock the door to make sure you sleep on it, okay? It's for your own good." And with that she closed the door, and again I heard the click that signified that I was once again trapped in the room.

Well, not that trapped.

On my way down to dinner I grabbed a few paperclips off the office desk as we passed through it, distracting Greg by asking him about the boat being summoned to "rescue" me, to wit he told me there still wasn't any available to be sent to the island, and stuffed them in my pocket. Now I pulled them out and placed them on my bedroom desk, and thought about my intended course of action.

Human or animal surgery, it was still mad science! And I intended to escape the island before Tomoe decided to run any kind of experiments on me, so I'd taken these as a precaution. In some of the pictures, the hero would pick a door lock with just a few paper clips, so why couldn't I?

But first I turned off the light and waited, wide eyed and **very** nervous, until late into the night, when I felt sure everyone else was asleep, then rose and picked up my paper clips and started working on the door.

I would like to state now that the pictures make it look a lot easier than it really is! I'm not sure how long I worked on it, but I broke at least three or four of the clips before I finally managed to pop the lock and escape my bedroom prison.

I quickly made my way down to the first floor, located some bags, took two, went to the kitchen, stuffed one bag full of fruits and vegetables, and the other with bottles of fruit juice from the ice box, and then went outside to the yard, threw the control wheel to open the gate, and headed down to the dock and onto the launch. I stowed my two, I must report rather heavy, bags near the main wheel, then looked at the controls carefully.

Confound it! I discovered to my dismay that the motor was activated by a key ignition, like a car, and I had no idea where to find the key! I wasn't getting to the nearest mainland this way. I considered going back into the house and searching for the key, but since I, as already stated, didn't know where to begin to look, and I absolutely wasn't going to take a chance at getting caught again, I had only one real option then.

I left the launch and my two bags where they were and started walking along the beach, scanning around for anything I could use or alter into an oar with which to steer my original lifeboat. I also kept my eyes open for any distant bodies of land off in the water that could tell me where to go, though it also occurred to me while I walked that I could just check for a map of the ocean in the launch when I went to retrieve my bags.

And I also made it a point to keep safely clear of the jungle area. I learned that much the last time! No one ever needs to tell me the same thing twice! I must have taken longer getting my bedroom door open than I thought I had, for within mere minutes, definitely no more than half an hour, after I began my sojourn along the beach, the sun began to rise back into the sky in its constant, daily routine.

Before too long the sun was high enough to warm the beach, as well as myself, and I knew it was now only a matter of time before my "hosts" found I had once again escaped from them. I also started to realize I had made one mistake when setting out on this walk - I should have taken something to drink with me! Before too long, I found my thirst starting to revive, and began looking for some fresh water with which to satisfy it.

It is at this time, I must report, that my adventure on the island took a new twist. I came across a stream that flowed straight into the sea, and followed it up slightly into the woods to a lagoon, about twice the size of the one I'd come across the day before...or maybe...no, I am sure it was a different one...

Regardless, I walked up to the edge of the water, knelt down, and using my hands quenched my thirst for the time being. Afterward, I felt tiredness grip me, and leaned against a tree for a little while, resting. I think I may have dozed off for a bit, for the next I knew the sun was a little higher in the sky than before.

By this time I felt especially warm, and wanted to cool off. Staring at the lagoon, I considered going in for a brief swim, my momma taught me when I was six and made sure that I was like a regular fish before letting me swim without help, but alas, I was without swim wear. Then I recalled that my nan had once told me of people who preferred to swim **without** wearing a swimsuit...or anything else for that matter.

Did I dare? Could I really just...strip off everything and swim naked? My earlier shenanigans aside, I wasn't sure I had the courage. On the Nemesis I had little choice until Mimete returned my clothes to me, and that first day on the island I knew everyone else was outside bringing Mimete's luggage and other acquirements into the compound, thus allowing me much time for my brief bit of rebellious fun.

But this? At anytime one of my captors, or worse, one of the 'Beast Folk' I had seen yesterday, or one I hadn't, could come along...yet the water was so inviting and cool looking... So finally, I decided on a simple compromise. I removed my dress, but kept my underwear on, my grandparents had once told me children would sometimes play in puddles that way, and timidly began to step into the water for a quick, cooling dip.

It was sooo nice. I must have just swam around in various strokes for hours, or so it felt, before I looked up from a backstroke back towards the shore I started at...and saw a new Beast Man crouched there, watching me.

This one was short and sort of slender, with pale, sort of peach colored fur lining its skin, and a shock of bright orange hair atop its head with a single stripe of black in the center of it. Switching to a breaststroke, I moved back towards it, noticing as I drew closer that it had a decidedly feminine aspect to it, two paler patches around her hands and one all around her face, and medium brown eyes with black slits in the middle, like a cats, which hinted to me as to the beast girl's original shape. She wore only a pair of blue loincloths across her waist and chest, giving the impression of budding maturity, or the belief thereof at any rate.

"Uh...hello?" I ventured nervously, hoping she wouldn't take after her fellow cat born "cousin", and seek to have me as her next meal. But she just stared back at me, not saying anything, then ambled over to where I had set down my dress before entering the water. As I watched, she picked it up, unfolding it, and sniffed and stared at it, as though it were the most curious thing in the world.

"Uh...please...could you...uh...put that back?" I asked, still nervous. At least she wasn't coming after me. It occurs to me now she may have retained her feline instinctual fear of the water, hence her choice to ignore me for the moment. But then she glanced at me, seemingly just as curious about me as I was afraid of her. She glanced at my hands, and smiled widely.

"Five man! Like me!" she declared, her very feminine voice confirming her gender for me. "Five man! Five man! Like me!" she continued, showing me her own, rather pleasantly shaped five fingered hands while my dress fell on her knees.

"Yes, five man, like you," I confirmed, trying to smile back. "Um, could you please put down my dress now?" She looked at it again, sifted it through her hands, examining it as though it were a newly discovered buried treasure, then turned back to me.

"Five man!" she said. "Five man! Real five man!" I blinked in confusion, and then she rose to an almost full standing position, still holding my dress...and then bounded off into the woods with it!

"Hey! That's mine!" I screamed, and dove out of the water and up to the woods' edge. Ignoring the chill of the air against my wet skin, I stared around for her, and spotted her just a little ways away, still holding my dress.

"Give that back!" I demanded, temporarily forgetting my fear. Swimming around for a little while in my undergarments was one thing, but there was no way I was going to even try to row away from the island and to freedom that way! My parents would never let me live down the scandal it could cause.

"Five man!" the cat-girl cried out. "Follow! Come! Join!" And with that she moved further into the woods, stopping after a few feet to look back. I realized she was trying to lead me somewhere, and though I **really** didn't want to think about the possibilities, I didn't want to lose my dress, either.

What choice have I got? I thought, and, seeing no other recourse, gulped and moved into the woods, following my new "guide" to where ever she was leading me...

Next - the community of the Beast Folk! This could be trouble... Be here when Rini meets "the Sayer of the Law!" And in case you haven't guessed yet, I'll reveal the cat-girl's identity next chapter! (Heh, heh, I'm so evil...)

Oh, and Kakeru was the human guy Luna got a crush on in the Sailor Moon S movie, in case you had trouble placing the name.

R&R please!


	5. The Beast Folk & The Sayer Of The Law

Welcome once more! Do you like your new puppy nose? It just looks so cute on you! A decided improvement, and goes so well with the Tiger paws. Heh, heh, heh... Okay, Rini has now encountered another Beast folk, a young, early adolescent female who has nabbed her dress, leaving Rini to follow her through the woods in just her unmentionables. But to where? And to what end? Let's find out! Disclaimers first:

Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that order, none of whom are me.

The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.

**This** is emphasis, and _this_ is thought. And ((this)) is auditory/visual flashback.

Yes, I know, it's been a couple of months, and I've been a lazy little slug, but it's here now. Enjoy!

And now, the terror continues...

_**The Island Of Dr. Tomoe**_

by Scorpinac

Chapter 5: Among The Beast Folk And The Sayer Of The Law

I am not sure just how long she lead me through the trees and bushes, though I can say I got more than one scrape from an evil branch or two. Also, my skin dried from the heat of the day as time passed by, leaving me almost totally dry by the time we stopped.

The beast girl lead me across what felt like more than half the island, passing palm trees, oaks, and even a few banana tress ranging from shrubbery to skyscraper in height and width, as well as all manner of bushes and vines. Sometimes she would lead me through a patch so thick I wondered how she managed to push through, or how I could and did. And every now and then she turned either left or right, as though trying to avoid something, or, as I thought at the time, trying to lose me as part of some kind of evil, selfish prank at my expense.

But then, just as I was about to yell at her to come back to me and return my dress, I suddenly found myself in front of an ooky, spooky looking cave. I stared for several long moments, my eyes dancing all about for the beast girl, trying to find which way she had, which way she **must** have turned...

"Uh...miss cat girl beast person?" I am embarrassed to admit that I whimpered, "Are you still here...?"

"Come!" her voice came up to me...from inside the cave... "Come! Follow! Follow to city! Follow to Sayer! Sayer of the Law!" Staring into the cave carefully, I finally spotted her now overly excited eyes glowing in the darkness of the cave about ten feet in, holding steady, waiting for me...

"Okay..." I replied, nervousness filling my voice, and I timidly began to tiptoe inside, watching my footing carefully, praying I wouldn't accidentally trip on something, or that something wouldn't leap from the darkness and devour me alive. The cat girl ahead of me must have started getting impatient, for she began entreating me to go faster as we moved through the passage. But my fear and alarms were too high to allow much speed, not even for the sake of regaining my dress, so I continued to move forward slowly and cautiously, my eyes on constant lookout for any sign of ambush.

It felt like I walked through that cave, or should I say tunnel, for hours and hours, but then I emerged from another entrance to the cave back into the sunlight, my shadow telling me it was now no more than noon. As my eyes re-accustomed themselves to the light, I noticed that at least two or three dozen make shift huts built from branches and planks carved and pulled from various trees filled the area, some large enough to hold whole large families, others just big enough for maybe one person. There were also five or six other cave openings in the rock face just behind me and leading off to the west slightly.

Finally my eyes stopped squinting, and I realized I was in a clearing I'd never seen before, and several, I'm not sure and may never be sure exactly how many, of the Beast Folk were milling about, doing such simple activities as maintenance on the buildings or tending what looked to be crops in a small field to the north...or was it east? Or maybe both?

Others seemed to be just frolicking, and a couple of the clearly older ones appeared to be acting like, or trying to act like, teachers or guardians for the especially smaller ones. And then they started to notice me as my "guide" skipped forward merrily with my dress still held captive in her arms. Now **really** nervous, I timidly stepped forward, deciding to try and keep track of my guide for the time being.

"Who this?" a white furred, gruffy looking creature that might once have been a kind of wolf or ape with piercing cold blue eyes asked.

"Five Man, Malachite!" my guide squealed in delight as she rose her own hand. "Like me! Like me! I bring her to meet Sayer of the Law!"

"Yes!" I cried, surprising myself as well them, and raising my owns hands for them to see clearly. "I **am** a Five Man, just like her." They all began quietly chanting it as they seemed to size me up, the littler ones looking almost as excited as my guide.

"Does it know the law?" a brown haired definitively canine like male with fierce blue-grey eyes asked, cutting into the chanting.

"Do you know the law?" my guide inquired of me. "I think it knows the law!"

"Uh...the law?" I asked nervously. "Like, don't steal and don't hurt people on purpose or you'll go to jail, go directly to jail, and not collect two hundred dollars?" They all stared blankly at me, obviously not familiar with the game of Monopoly, and thus completely missing my superiorly lame humor.

"It does not know the law, Ail," Malachite, who I was now certain was once some sort of Gorilla or Chimpanzee, maybe an Orangutang, said to the canine-man.

"She must learn the law!" a somewhat female looking, black-haired, dark green-eyed kind of deer or antelope like creature bellowed.

"Yes, as Prisma says, she must learn the law!" Ail agreed with her. "Take her, take her to the Sayer of the Law!" They all grouped around me and all but shoved me through their little make shift town to a cave on the west side, and then inside it, for about a dozen feet or so, to a small fire, beyond which sat an elderly cat-like creature with fur similar to my guide's, but with tufts of colored, dotted fur sticking out of the side of it's chin, like a beard or whiskers.

Its hands were covered in aged orange fur, and it wore only what looked like a long, red cloak, and one hand held an old, tall staff carved, somewhat clumsily yet with utmost care it seemed to me, from wood. And, I noted most prominently, it's eyes were closed tightly, not once opening to stare at me. It did, however, sniff at the air as I came to a stop before the fire.

"What has been brought here?" it asked in a rough, male voice, that made me think of my grandpas, weird as that may seem.

"A five man, Sayer," Malachite declared. "Kit brought her. She must learn the Law." The cat man, the Sayer of the Law, stood up, and moved around the fire using his staff as a walking stick, and reached out his free hand and felt my face carefully.

"Very well done," he said. "Like the other, the one who stays in the compound, with the 'little Mistress'." I blinked at this comment, wondering idly who he was talking about, as I hadn't seen any of the "trained" Beast Folk hanging exclusively around Hotaru and Melanie, though now I feel like a total idiot for not realizing the truth sooner. At that particular moment, though, I did realize one thing.

The Sayer of the Law...was blind.

"I...I'm Rini, Mr. Sayer, sir," I introduced myself to him, my nerves still on full alert. "Please don't eat me..."

"Eat you!" he stepped back, looking aghast. "**Eat you**! NO! Not to eat flesh, that is the law!" The last he declared loudly for all to hear, and it was followed by him and all the others around me chiming together, "ARE WE NOT MEN!"

"Okay," I replied with a **very** relieved sigh. "That's nice to know...unless you're all gonna gang up on me and devour me and then hide my bones so Dr. Tomoe and the others never figure out where I went..."

"Teach her the law!" the wolf-like Ail decreed.

"Teach her the law!" the ape-like Malachite agreed.

"Teach her the law!" Kit and Prisma chimed together.

"Teach her the law!" I heard what sounded like all the Beast Folk, minus the Sayer, cry out. To be honest, I now felt nervous, and yet somehow excited at the same time.

"Teach her so she can play with us again!" three child like voices said in a pig like squeal, and I glanced to my side to see the three pig creatures I'd encountered yesterday, though I had no idea to which to apply each of the names Tomoe had used for them, and there, just beyond them, watching me intently, was the bear-man that had scared me right straight back into Kaolinite's and Mimete's "waiting arms". The one I didn't see, though, was the cat-man who had actively hunted me through half the jungle...

"Very well!" the Sayer bellowed, breaking through my thoughts and bringing me back to the matter immediately at hand. "Listen, new-man, listen and learn the Law!"

"I'm listening, I'm listening!" I agreed, now officially all ears.

"Not to go on all fours, that is the law!" he decreed.

"ARE WE NOT MEN!" he and all the others cried out, and then glanced at me. I realized they expected me to say this part as well, so;

"Are we not men!" I yelled out, and they all cheered their approval of me.

"Not to hunt other men, that is the law!" the Sayer stated.

"ARE WE NOT MEN!" I and the other Beast Folk cried.

"Not to eat fish or flesh, that is the Law!"

"ARE WE NOT MEN!"

"Never to shed blood, that is the Law!"

"ARE WE NOT MEN!"

"Never to growl or yell like an animal, that is the Law!"

"ARE WE NOT MEN!"

"Never to suck up drink with lips alone, that is the Law!"

"ARE WE NOT MEN!"

And on and on it went, with several of the forbidden acts I no longer remember, nor care to. I do know that as the chanting continued, they began to sway and shuffle, as though dancing without moving from where they stood, and I began to move in the same way, lest they turn on me and forget about their "Laws". I am no longer sure just how long they bombarded me with this seemingly endless list of "don'ts", with to my recall not a single "do".

I also glanced about at the creatures around me when I could, and noticed that almost all of them had mis-formed hands, some having only two cloven fingers apiece, others having only two fingers and a thumb, some three, some four, some in combinations; three on one hand, two on the other, like Nephrite's hands; and only a very, **very** rare few that I could see had a full five-fingered hand like me and my guide. Then, suddenly, without any warning, the chanting switched to a new rhythm...

"His is the Hand!" the Sayer cried forth, surprising me.

"His is the Hand!" the Beast Folk cried in reply, and I quickly repeated it as well.

"His is the Hand!" the Sayer repeated. "His is the Hand that Makes!"

"His is the Hand that Makes!" The Beast Folk and I repeated.

"His is the Hand! His is the Hand that Wounds!"

"His is the Hand that Wounds!"

"His is the Hand! His is the Hand that Heals!"

"His is the Hand that Heals!"

"His is the Hand! His is the Lightning Flash!"

"His is the Lightning Flash!"

"His is the Hand! His is the Deep Salt Sea!"

"His is the Deep Salt Sea!"

"His is the Hand! His are the Stars in the Sky!"

"His are the Stars in the Sky!" By this point I started to realize they must have been talking of Dr. Tomoe, that after doing this to them, hurting them and forcing them into a shape so alien to that from which they were born, he had made them look on him as though he were some kind of God! And then came the next part of the seemingly endless litany...

"His is the Hand! His is the House of Pain!"

"His is the House of Pain!"

"Great are the punishments!" Ail declared.

"Great are they!" the other agreed.

"None escape!" the female pig creature with blue hair proclaimed.

"None escape!" the others roared their agreement.

"I did a little thing," the pig-boy cried, raising one of it's three-fingered hands, which I noticed for the first time then had a nasty scar upon it. "I slurped, I sucked my drink from the well without my hands or glass. **He** knew! He always knows! And I was punished! I am burned! He is great! He is good!"

"None escape! None escape! None escape!" they chanted.

"For all, the want is bad," the Sayer said. "Some want to follow things that move, some want to rend and tear with teeth and claw, some want to scratch and bay and howl! All the want is bad! So hear, listen, learn the Law! I am the Sayer of the Law! I sit here and wait for those new who come to teach them the Law! Listen, learn, and say the words!"

"Not to walk on all fours, that is the Law! ARE WE NOT MEN!" the whole group cried aloud, and again I found myself chanting along with them through the endless litany. The cave seemed to heat up as the meeting seemed to linger on and on, and I am sure I began to perspire all over, despite myself. And then I noticed Kit trying to don my dress...

"Excuse me!" I snapped aloud, cutting the litany short just I am sure they were about to go into another "rousing" round of "His is the Hand, etc." "Kit, may I please have my dress back now? I only came for that."

"But is pretty, is of Man!" she replied. "With this I am true Five Man! With this He no longer takes me to the House of Pain!"

"You think wearing my dress will..." I started, but her eyes looked at me with sorrow and...fear, yes, fear, in her eyes. For a moment I considered pressing the point, but as she awaited my answer, the rest of the group went quiet, also waiting to see how this moment decided itself. Finally, despite my own good judgement, I said, "Would you like me to help you put it on so you don't rip it?"

"Yes!" she gleamed happily at me. "Now I become true Five Man! Now I escape the House of Pain!" I moved closer to her, and helped her to step into the dress, then I made sure the straps sat properly, and she looked herself over in utter delight.

"I am true Five Man," she said in awe, and started to twirl about, the skirt flowing and rising slightly as she did. "I safe. I safe now forever."

"Now we continue!" the Sayer of the Law proclaimed. "As we were! Not to scratch the bark of trees with our hands, that is the Law!"

"That is the Law! ARE WE NOT MEN!" I and the other Beast Folk cried out, picking up where we left off when I...interrupted. As the litany continued apace, I began to question myself as to how I was to make my escape now. There was no doubt plenty of material in the Beast Folk's moderate village from which to make a simple oar with which to row myself away, and maybe even to create a rudder for steering, if I needed one.

But what was I to wear? Without my dress I would be rowing back to true civilization half naked! And I was not about to sully my family's good name for the sake of my freedom. Mother would never let me hear the end of it! Perhaps I could put together a simple loincloth for my chest, or maybe there was still a chance I could sneak back inside the compound and retrieve one of my other dresses...

And then my ponderings became moot when the litany was halted by a loud series of noises from outside the cave. As I turned, wondering what was going on, several of the Beast Folk suddenly shifted aside to give clear access to the cave entrance, and a moment later Hotaru stepped inside, to my shock a small handgun in her right hand and a whip in her left! And looking meaner and angrier than I'd seen yet!

As I quickly dove to the side to hide myself amongst the Beast Folk, praying that she had not seen me, she rose her gun and fired a single shot into the ceiling. As the Beast Folk cringed from the loud noise that rang around the cavern, I found my hands squeezing into my ears to try and stop them from ringing. As I glanced toward Hotaru, I noticed that she had changed her state of dress considerably.

Always before she had gone about in either what amounted to skimpy swim wear, or a simple dress or sundress. But now she wore a plain white short sleeved shirt, and regular brown pants with matching, much to my great surprise, boots! As I tried to wrap my head around this revelation, Hotaru spoke out loudly.

"There is a new man!" she yelled. "A female. A girl. Young. She has taken off on us, and if you have her here, reveal her now! Remember, Mine is the Hand!"

"Yours is the Hand!" the Beast Folk cried out. _So,_ I thought, _They know I'm not in the compound anymore. I'm so dead...okay, Rini, think! There's got to still be a way out of this! C'mon, there's got to be **something** you've missed or overlooked!_

"We have taught new man!" the Sayer said. "We have taught her the Law!"

"Then you have seen her?" Hotaru asked. "Rini has been here?"

"Rini is here now!" the red-haired pig girl squealed. "She learns the Law! She learns the Law!" Hotaru turned her attention to her.

"Where, Nanako?" she stared. "Where is Rini now?" Nanako, as I now knew her to be, turned and looked right at me, as I pitifully tried to hide behind the ape-like Malachite, holding my finger to my lips in the international signal for shh! and shook my head 'no' quickly.

"There, behind Malachite," Nanako said. "She learn Law well, play with me and friends again." Hotaru, rather than bending around to see if I was truly behind Malachite or not, turned around and stepped away.

For a fleeting moment, I thought I might have a chance to escape before she came back, but then she was at the entrance again, and her father was with her, holding a shotgun in one arm, a second whip on his belt. Now I knew I was really in trouble! A second later Mimete stepped up, dressed similarly to Hotaru, and stood quietly behind them both, another handgun sitting in a holder on her belt while she nervously held a third in her hands.

"Behind Malachite, or so Nanako says," Hotaru commented offhandedly, and Tomoe looked towards me, causing me to duck and try to scrunch up as much as possible.

"Malachite, move," Tomoe's voice echoed through the cave, and he shuffled aside, revealing me to the mad scientists. "We've been worried half to death, Rini. I don't know how you got out of your room, since Mimete swears on a stack that she locked the door, but it's moot now...why are you naked?"

Blushing heavily, I stood up straight, deciding to meet my bad karma head on. I tried my best to look at him defiantly, but I don't really think it worked.

"One of your "pets" took a liking to my dress, so I gave it to her, kind of hoped they'd hide me for a while," I said slowly and carefully, trying to remain as calm as I could.

"Which..." Tomoe started, but Kit jumped forward, only too happy to show off her new look to her creator.

"Is nice?" she asked, doing a brief twirl to show him how it looked on her. "Am true Five Man now, yes? No more punishment?"

"Well..." he batted an eye for a moment, clearly unsure what to say on the matter. "Clothes don't really... It looks nice, Kit. Very nice."

"Rini," he turned his attention back toward me. "Why did you run? Was my lecture too much for you? Did I not explain anything clearly enough?"

"Oh, I understood it all just fine," I replied. "And I still say you're out of your mind!"

"Master?" Ail looked at him, clearly confused.

"She is...not like us?" the bear man from yesterday asked, eying me suspiciously.

"Correct, Chad," Tomoe said loudly. "She is not like **you**. She was **not** made. She is a true man! She is like me! Like Hotaru! Like Kaolinite! Like Mimete! She is a Mistress, a little Mistress! And like us, Hers is the Hand!" The last said especially loud while pointing right at me!

"Don't you drag me into this!" I screamed. "I want nothing to do with your madness! I just want the keys to your launch and a map pointing me to the nearest safe port of call!"

"You want to leave? So soon?" Hotaru asked with a slight sneer. "No one's going to harm you." At the comment of harm, the image of the rabbit I'd seen yesterday suddenly returned to my mind, and for a brief second the need to be sick with it.

"Tell that to the bunny," I replied.

"What bunny?" Tomoe and Hotaru both chimed at once, and Mimete suddenly looked panicked. More so than she already was, anyway. And their stare told me that nothing short of the truth would be tolerated.

"The one I saw yesterday, right before I ran into the cat man, uh, Kakeru?" I explained. "It was torn to pieces, literally!"

Tomoe and Hotaru stared at me, then glanced at each other. Tomoe then turned to the Beast Folk and spoke again.

"Where is the Sayer of the Law!" he cried out, and the Sayer shuffled forward into Tomoe's line of sight.

"Yes?" the Sayer asked.

"What is the Law!" Tomoe snapped out.

"Not to walk on all fours," the Sayer repeated once more, but this time Tomoe cut him off before he could continue.

"What is the Law!" he snapped again.

"Not to hunt other men..."

"What is the Law!"

"Not to eat fish or flesh..."

"What is the Law!"

"Never to shed blood..."

"Someone has broken this Law!" Tomoe declared. "Who was it? Who has shed blood!" The Beast Folk all stirred and stared at one another, all wondering who had dared to go against their Law. Even Kit looked anxious as we waited for a confession. Then another thought occurred to me. I wondered for a moment if I should tell about it, but then the choice was taken from me.

"Um, while we're on the subject, I saw Kakeru watching in the trees just out of my line of sight when we found Rini on the beach yesterday," Mimete commented, and I felt a small lump form in my throat. "He looked as though he'd been running, just like she had been..."

"Oh?" Tomoe glanced at her, then turned back toward me. "Is that true, Rini? Did Kakeru hunt you?"

"If you mean the cat guy, he did follow me from a distance for most of the day, yeah..." I admitted. "For awhile I was kinda convinced he was gonna have me for...dinner..." Now Tomoe looked **really** incensed!

"He was a Cheetah, Rini," Mimete commented quietly as she scanned the cave actively. Tomoe also began glancing around the cave, searching for the cat, er, Cheetah man.

"KAKERU!" he roared, his voice echoing loudly through the chamber. "WHERE ARE YOU!" For a moment there was silence, as nobody responded, and then my previous day's pursuer emerged from the crowd, dropping from a nearby "shelf" onto the floor, landing in a poised crouch.

"Yours...is the Hand," he said, staring carefully at Tomoe.

"Did you hunt this man!" Tomoe snapped out, again pointing at me. "Were you going to kill her had she not reached Kaolinite and Mimete!"

"No, not kill, just follow, see where go, learn if one of us," he replied. Somehow, I didn't quite believe him, though it did surprise me that I was actually willing to consider the idea that the beasts-turned-men could grasp the concepts of lying and "stretching the truth". After all, a dog or a cat cannot lie. Of course, under normal circumstances, they can't actually **talk**, either... But again, my musings were cut short as events continued to unfold around me.

"And the rabbit!" Tomoe inquired. "Did you have anything to do...with the rabbit?"

"I don't think so," I cut in. "He was drinking some water from a small lake or pond, and even if he had been washing blood off him at the time, it would've just wound up in the water, and I didn't see anything that remotely looked like blood in the water, or on him, and I found him only a few moments after I saw the bunny."

"He was drinking..." Tomoe started.

"With his hands!" I snapped out. "He was scooping the water up with his hands. Honest." Tomoe looked at me a moment longer, then shrugged it off and returned his focus to the matter at hand. I glanced at Kakeru, who stared back at me with bewilderment in his eyes. Clearly, he had expected me to tell Tomoe the truth, that he had sucked with his lips only, and was trying to understand why I lied for him. I gave him a light smile, to assure him I wouldn't let Tomoe hurt him, and he briefly tilted his head, then I turned back to Tomoe.

"Then who has shed blood!" Tomoe asked the crowd again. "Who has broken the Law!" He stared intently around the room, continually focusing on Kakeru, apparently already convinced that he was indeed the culprit, or at the least more involved than he claimed to be. More silence, then...

"NO!" a voice roared throughout the cave, causing loud echoes, and another wolf-like creature dove from somewhere into view, its hair and fur a mottled blue-grey-black, its four fingered hands clawed, and flexing as it stood. It stood a short ways away from Hotaru and her father and Mimete.

"NO!" it roared again. "You are **not** the Hand! We are **not** men! We are **beasts**! I say, we live as we are, as animals!" It lunged forward, went down to fours, and swiped with one of its hands, drawing up a large amount of dust, sending it straight into Hotaru and Tomoe's eyes, Mimete jumping back only a moment before the dust could reach her. The wolf man dove through the cave entrance while its would-be captors coughed on the dust, and seeing an out myself, I, too, ran forward and out of the cave.

My first thought upon stepping out of the cave is that it must have been getting pretty hot in there, because the cool air of the outside felt **really** good against my skin, and I was even more sure that I had been sweating up a storm. I felt soaked! I noticed that the wolf man was running off into the jungle, and that the sun had barely shifted, meaning no more than an hour had gone by at most.

I also noticed that nearby was Jadeite, who I then felt was perhaps carved from a large mountain goat, and Kyusuke, who could have only been made from a small canine, I think perhaps an unfortunate Rottweiler or Labrador, possibly a Mastiff, and also Melanie, who wore a normal dress for this occasion. All three held hand axes, and were clearly quite nervous, though Melanie looked at me, and probably more to the point, my current state of dress, in clear and abject surprise.

Then Tomoe, Hotaru, and Mimete emerged from the cave, and immediately began following the wolf man, several of the other Beast Folk coming up behind them, crying out, "Back! Back to the House of Pain!" Not wanting to get run over, I began moving as well, and was pulled along with the crowd, within minutes finding myself near Mimete, who glanced at me. At this point I noticed that she, too, had a whip tied to her belt.

"You really shouldn't have done this," she said, pulling the spare handgun from the holder and, much to my surprise, handed it to me. "Be careful with this," she told me as I took hold of it. "It's loaded, which means it's dangerous! Only use it if you **absolutely** have to!" I, frankly, was at a total loss for words!

The chase picked up, and we plunged through the trees and brush at breakneck speed, or so it seemed. I heard Tomoe say something about all-fours, and presumed that the wolf man we now hunted had dropped to a four legged run. As we turned left and right, right and left, passing this shape and that, I spotted clouds forming in the distance, and landmarks made not by nature that looked like monuments or graves, crafted I think by Tomoe's creations. And as we ran, I began to feel my energy fade from tiredness, and fell back a bit to run at a slightly slower pace. Mimete saw me, and barked an order.

"Juno! Watch the new Mistress! Stay with her, or you'll be next to go back!" she snapped out, and a thing, resembling some sort of hideous patch-together of a pig and a hyena, came up alongside me, as did, without any request, Kit. As Tomoe, Mimete, and Hotaru pulled away into the lead, I kept my eyes open for an escape route, and after several moments took a chance and dove out of the line and into the foliage.

Sadly, Kit and my new companion, Juno, along with, to my unpleasant surprise, Kyusuke, as well as Kakeru, pulled from the line as well, staying close to me. I attempted to outrun them, and when that became clearly pointless, I tried to lose them, hoping their wits were still no more than the animals from which they came.

But soon even that presented to me as being pointless, as the four easily kept in pace with me, and soon I just chose to ignore them and try to find my way back to the beach. Instead, I found myself on a small cliff, overlooking the beach...

"Where we go?" Kakeru asked. "We find Fiore other way, take from side?"

"No, I'm trying to get back to the compound so I can get another dress, steal the keys to the launch, and then leave this island of terrors behind me," I answered while working out where along the beach I had come. "Far behind!"

"But none leave!" Kit squealed. "Not without second mistress with the whip!"

"Yes, she who brings other men-to-be," Kyusuke agreed. "She who brought you from water."

"Mimete? Sorry, but I'm not waiting," I stated, and began to work my way through the jungle once again, just as I heard Tomoe and Mimete down on the beach, still guiding the hunt for the wolf man, Fiore. I heard further cries of "Back to the House of Pain!" from the Beast Folk, along with a cacophony of "None Escape! None Escape!"

"Besides," I added. "Am I **not** a Mistress, too?"

"Yes, Yours is the Hand," Kakeru replied.

I think I sifted back through the foliage for only a handful of minutes when Juno grabbed my arm. For a moment fear once again seized my mind as I felt certain the creature was turning on me, that it and its three fellows were now to devour me alive as they finally had me all alone. But instead, it pointed into the nearby shrubbery, and I blinked.

"There," it said in a female voice. "I smell him. Your's is the Hand, little Mistress..." I stared where she pointed, and timidly stepped forward, my companions holding back just behind me, and then I made it out, I saw Fiore the wolf crouched under some branches and shrubbery, staring back at me, frightened, and hurt from what looked like a million scratches and cuts, though they may have only numbered in the hundreds or thousands.

He also bled from his leg, below the knee, rather heavily, from a small, far too perfect hole in his shin. I knew instantly that he must have been shot, though by whom I could never hazard a guess. As he stared back at me, his eyes full of fear and pleading, I felt not fear, but sorry for the thing. It had not asked, never asked Tomoe to force it into this human shape, had not wanted it, wished only to be itself. If I was truly not to become like Tomoe and those who lived with him, I couldn't allow him to be taken back for more torment, more torture...could I?

"Please..." it said softly, it's voice pleading. "Kill..."

"Kill?" I asked, taking another step or two forward. _What does..._ I remember thinking, but he spoke again.

"Kill..." he hissed, his voice barely more than a whisper, and then I heard Tomoe's voice growing nearer, his and the other's footsteps approaching, the continuing call of the Beast Folk of "None Escape!" and "Back to the House of Pain!"

"Please..." he breathed. "No...more...House of...Pain..." At that moment all I could feel towards this poor creature, this poor brute, was pity. And the possession of the gun that Mimete had given me became aware in my mind again, as I had dismissed its presence as unimportant, and in a moment that forever whirls in my mind, I lifted it, pointed it, my finger found the trigger that brings forth certain death, and pulled...

"RINI! What have you done!" Mimete's scream brought me back to reality, and I stared down at the wolf man, a bullet hole now present in his furry, no-longer moving chest. I couldn't even remember hearing the weapon go off, though there was now a painful ache in my wrist and shoulder, and I glanced down at my hand to see it sitting to my side, the gun looking as though it had tried to fly out of my grip, a small, almost invisible trail of smoke coming from the tip. I knew what I had done, and it filled me horror.

I had killed. I had committed murder!

"I wanted him alive!" Tomoe's voice roared as Mimete wrapped an arm around me, the gun dropping from my hand to the ground. He ranted for a few moments longer, but I don't recall any of it. I was too filled with shock at what I had done. _How could I! How could I!_ rang through my mind over and over again.

"It's okay, it's okay," Mimete told me, using a soothing voice. The other Beast Folk watched me, curious, wondering.

"Hers...is the Hand..." Juno grunted. "She...has made...good punishment."

"Hers is the Hand," Kit agreed quietly.

"Hers is the Hand!" several of the Beast Folk agreed. It made me feel even sicker.

"Mine is the Hand," I breathed into Mimete's shoulder, I scarcely remembering falling into her embrace. "The Hand...that kills..."

What happened next is mostly a whirlwind in my mind. Tomoe took Jadeite and Nephrite on the launch with the body out to the sea, and sent it off into the depths somewhere, probably to be devoured by sharks, as I had seen once before already.

The other non-trained Beast Folk returned to their "city" while those who had come with my "rescue" party returned with Mimete, Hotaru, Melanie, and I to the compound. While Hotaru and Melanie informed Kaolinite on what had occurred, Mimete took me up to the bathroom and helped me bathe, which felt really nice considering the day I'd had thus far.

Once I was clean, she took me back to my room and helped me dress, and even combed out my hair for me. Finally, she turned me to her.

"Rini," she asked. "Are you okay?"

"How could I?" I asked back, beginning to sob. "I... I...killed him... I...I'm a...a murderer..."

"No," Mimete looked at me seriously. "You freed him. I believe he's at peace now. Maybe it was wrong, maybe it wasn't, I don't know. But if you really were a cold blooded monster, I do know you wouldn't feel so terrible right now. **I** wouldn't feel so terrible. God, what was I thinking giving that thing to you! If anyone's responsible, it's me!"

"But I'm the one who..." I started, and she squeezed me into a hug.

"Only because **I** made it possible for you..." she said. "And I'm sorry. I'm **so** sorry, kiddo..."

"Excuse me," Hotaru's voice chimed in, and we turned to see her at the door, having changed her clothes to a sundress. "Father's back, and he says that until further notice, **she** is to have someone watching her at all times until we **know** she can be trusted to go around by herself again."

"Alright," Mimete replied. "I'll take care of it for right now, just have someone bring us some lunch."

"Fine," Hotaru said, and walked away. I watched her go, then turned back to Mimete.

"He's never gonna let me go now, is he?" I asked, feeling fresh tears coming to my eyes. "He's going to keep me here forever..."

"It's starting to look that way, kiddo," Mimete answered. "I'm sorry..." I embraced her again, and just cried myself out until I could cry no more...

I think I knew then for sure that Mimete was my ally, and not my enemy.

Da, da, Daaaaaaaa! Next, we look further into the "humanizing" process of Dr. Tomoe! Don't miss it now.

And for those who still haven't gotten it, Kit and the Sayer are Wileykit and Lynx-O of the Thundercats(in a simplistic guest appearance). And if you still don't know who I'm talking about, then to quote Fred Perry, author and creator of the Gold Digger comics, Shame! Shame on you! Unless of course you're only fifteen or younger, in which case you probably have a legitimate deniability defense...

And remember to R&R!


	6. Learning More Of Turning Beast Into Man

Aah, dear friends, ready for more? My operating table awaits you! Let's see, what can I do next? Maybe...graft on an elephant's trunk! Yes, yes... As for Rini, I believe when last we checked, she was at the "mercy" of the good doctor and friends. Has she any hope left of escaping this island asylum! Disclaimers first!

Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that order, none of whom are me.

The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.

**This** is emphasis, and _this_ is thought. And ((this)) is auditory/visual flashback.

And now, the terror continues...

_**The Island Of Dr. Tomoe**_

by Scorpinac

Chapter 6: Learning More Of Turning Beast Into Man

I spent the next several days under close watch, my fellows taking it in turns to escort me everywhere, my only private time being when I was asleep or bathing. Even the trained Beast Folk were issued turns to watch me, and in time I found myself trusting them as much as I did Mimete, Tomoe and Kaolinite having lost any trust I **ever** had for them at all. As for the other girls present in my own age set, Melanie's attitude did a complete turn around. She now believed me to be the bravest person in the world for having had the courage to walk among the untrained Beast Folk undressed.

As for Hotaru, she still remained heavily under her father's wing, but after what had happened, she did finally begin to warm to me a bit, every now and then wondering aloud what it was that had possessed me to walk into the Beast Folk's so-called town unclothed, unprotected, and unarmed, and every once in a while, when the two of us were alone, incessantly questioning me on what it had been like to pull the trigger on Fiore.

Frankly, it worried me that she was, and thinking on it now and on what was to come to pass later, unhealthily fascinated with death. If only things could have been just a little different between us...

The only person who didn't ever take a turn following me around like a dark shadow was Tomoe himself, who was too occupied with his research and experiments. Five days after my final attempt at escape, he and Kaolinite brought the Cougar out of the laboratory, which was now fully transformed into a man, or at least close to one, its hands only four fingered, its face still retaining fresh scars and elements of the feline it once was. Tomoe told us its, or more precisely, his, name was now Motoki.

Tomoe then spent the next few days teaching and training Motoki, trying to make him even more human, or at least, more than he was. As I observed these sessions, I saw pride blossom in the cat-man whenever he grasped a new concept or understood a new idea, and shame when he fell short. It was almost touching, in its own, **unusual** way.

I also took the time now to observe the other trained servants of the compound, having little else to do with my time. I eventually saw that Nephrite, whom the other trained Beast Folk saw as a leader, third only to the Sayer of the Law and Tomoe himself, to be born most likely from a lion, his hair actually his mane, or what was left of it. Unazuki, whose seemingly sole duty around the compound was to mind the door, I believe was once a jackal.

As I have previously stated, Kyusuke was carved from a rottweiler, Greg from a chimp, and Jadeite from a mountain goat. Catzi, who drove the launch from the Nemesis to the island, and also aided in the kitchen, I decided was originally a panther, her movements catlike and graceful. And until this point, I had not really thought to get the names of the other trained creatures.

The creature in primary charge of the kitchen was Zoicite, who I initially thought to be a girl, but was in fact male. He was born from a jaguar, and was both a bit vain about his appearance, and very finicky about what was and was not brought through his kitchen. Another of the compound assistants was Umino, born of a kangaroo, and still bearing his original ears. He was very smart, and tried to help me understand the scientific books in the library when I finally decided to try and read them, to no avail.

The other two who had been on the Nemesis with Mimete, Jadeite, and Kyusuke were Haruka and Joe. Joe was made from a zebra, I believe, and Haruka a Cheetah, though much finer work than Kakeru. Joe generally kept to himself, and seemed content with performing his assigned chores and tasks. Haruka had more pride to her, and she tended to do things speedily, yet both throughly and correctly. She also felt it a waste of her time and skills to be watching over a "slow poke" like me, which she repeated to me every chance she got.

As the days went by, I also noticed some of the untrained Beast Folk being brought in from the jungle, usually begging for forgiveness and not to be taken back to the "House of Pain." When I saw that they were always taken straight to the laboratory, well, it didn't take me long to figure out exactly what they referred to when they mentioned this "House."

I eventually asked Mimete about it, and she told me that, as Tomoe had informed me the night he "explained all," the serum she had created to halt the Beast Folk's regression was only temporary, and thus the Beast Folk had to be given regular injections to keep them "human".

"We usually go out and give them their injections once a week," Mimete told me. "But unfortunately, various of the creatures invariably slip away come injection time, and eventually have to be sought out and 'dragged' back to the compound, not only for another injection, but for a quick follow up on the original creation 'procedures'."

"A follow up?" I asked her.

"Yeah, Dr. Tomoe basically checks it over, makes an additional augmentation or two, that kind of thing," Mimete replied. She glanced at my utterly confused stare, and giggled mirthfully. "That is to say, he does a little more surgery to make them a little more like people and less like animals, Rini."

"Ah, right, I knew that!" I stated. She then turned to take in the newest arrival, a man carved from a boar or wart hog, still retaining the remnants of his tusks, which I think I heard someone call Ken...

Before long, the days started turning into weeks, and roughly four weeks or so after my two aborted escape attempts, I was finally allowed to wander on my own again. My first stop, as I'd been barred from it since the day I'd killed Fiore, was Greg's tower. When I got to the top, he looked surprised to see me.

"Little Mistress?" he blinked.

"Hi, Greg," I greeted him. "I don't suppose there's been any word on a boat to take me home since we last spoke up here?" I did my best to keep myself calm, detached, like it didn't really matter to me either way.

Greg just looked at me, then pointedly turned his eyes away, clearly nervous and unsure of what to tell me. I waited patiently, not planning on leaving until I had an answer. Finally I started tapping my foot, to let him know I was still there. He began shifting uneasily, clearly wanting me to go, or at least change the subject.

"Greg!" I finally growled. "Is there something I should know?" Greg's shoulders finally slumped, and he turned to me with sympathy in his eyes.

"Don't you like island?" he asked. "Is to live here really so bad?"

"I don't want to live here!" I snapped. "I want to go home! I want to see my mom and dad again! I wanna see my nan and my friends and be in familiar places without monsters and loonies trying to defy mother nature!" Greg seemed to shrink a little bit, clearly afraid of me, and I forced myself to calm down a little bit. "I'm sorry," I said. "I'm just a little stressed out..."

"Is okay," Greg answered. "Can you not...learn...to like island? To see it as...home?" just before I let loose another tirade, my brain decided to actually put things together for me, pointing out the overly obvious.

"He's had you retract the request, hasn't he?" I asked, feeling my last hope slipping away. "Dr. Tomoe's never gonna let me leave..."

"Those are...orders...from doctor," Greg confirmed. I felt like screaming, crying, and spewing forth every bad word I'd learned since leaving the Millennium all at once. I remember clenching my fists tightly, as I tried to hold back my anger, and then I departed the tower, and went straight to Tomoe, who was working with Motoki in the den.

"...and then you move the "R" over here, see?" he was telling his latest "man". Motoki glanced at me as I came in the door.

"R..r...rittle istress," he grunted out, his vocal skills still touch and go at that moment. But it was more than enough to get Tomoe to turn and see who it was that had come in. He seemed uninterested in seeing it was me.

"Yes, Rini?' he asked.

"Why!" I snapped out, not really thinking about what I was doing.

"Why...what?" he arched an eyebrow.

"Why did you tell Greg to cancel the boat!" I snapped again.

"It's not needed anymore," he said simply, and started to turn back to Motoki. But I wasn't quite finished.

"Not needed!" I yelled. "But you said you would get me transport home! You promised! Remember!"

"So I did," Tomoe turned fully toward me. "But that was before you broke the rules we laid out for you. That was **before** you stuck your nose where we expressly forbid you to. That was **before** you learned our deepest secrets! That was **before** you tried to run away!"

"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME HERE!" I roared.

"Can't I?" Tomoe smiled, almost wickedly. "Greg's picked up radio news reports stating quite equivocally that all searches for remaining unaccounted-for-personnel from the H.M.S. Millennium have ceased. Anyone not yet located has been declared legally dead. As far as the world is concerned, Rini, you've been in Heaven for the last two months!"

"What..." I felt all my anger and rage seep out of me. "But I'm not..."

"As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you are," Tomoe calmly stated. "Your parents have given up on ever seeing you again, Rini. They've probably already had a funeral for you, put up a gravestone for you over an empty plot, and before long they may even start working on replacing you."

"No!" I screamed. "They wouldn't! They'd never replace me! I'm their dearest, most precious little girl! They've told me!"

"But to them, you're dead," Tomoe grinned nastily. "They've nothing else to give their love to."

"Then help me get home!" I felt ready to beg. I practically was.

"Mmm...nope," he replied. "If you'd kept your nose to yourself, I might have considered it. But now, well I can't have you blabbing my secrets to the world, can I?"

"But I won't!" Now I knew I was begging. "I promise! I swear to you I won't say anything about your work, honest! Besides, who'd believe me!" I was hoping that Mimete's logic on the situation would persuade him. I was wrong.

"I recall you promising not to look in the lab, and not to go off into the jungle by yourself," he said. "And then you went and **broke** those promises, didn't you?"

"But..."

"No, Rini, you have brought this on yourself," he declared, beginning to turn back to the waiting Motoki. "You shall not leave. But if you're especially good and well behaved, maybe I'll, eventually, allow you to journey out with Mimete to collect fresh animals and supplies from the world. Maybe..."

I felt my heart shatter. I had no reason to disbelieve him, no reason to think he would lie to me, not at this point, anyway. So I ran, right to my room, and threw myself upon my bed and buried my face in my arms upon the pillow.

And cried...

More time passed, a couple of weeks, I think, and then I made my next stupid choice. I was quietly strolling around the compound, considering asking Mimete if she thought I'd be allowed to go down to the beach to go for a swim or not, when she, Hotaru, and Jadeite came back from their latest trip to the untrained Beast Folks' town to administer injections with three of the Folk in a wagon; Malachite the ape, a young tiger-woman I hadn't met formally yet, and Kit. I stared at the cat-girl, the dress I had given her now rather dirty and a bit ragged. Her eyes stared up at me pleadingly.

"Please!" she cried to me. "No House of Pain! Am true Five Man now! Not need punishment! Please, little Mistress!"

"What did she do?" I asked Mimete calmly, "Other than not take her medicine?"

"She bounded away from us," Hotaru answered before Mimete could. "On all fours! As you are now well aware, that is not allowed to them. They are **human**! Not animals!"

"I don't think they're either, Hotaru," I glanced at her crossly. "I don't know what to think they are."

"Suit yourself," Hotaru waved it off.

"We need to take them in now," Mimete tried to smile, but I could tell she was starting to question the "good doctor", I having told her how I was now a prisoner here after I'd cried myself out the day I learned the boat had been canceled and the world believed I was dead. I took a deep breath to keep my focus clear before I spoke again.

"I don't suppose I'd be allowed to go down to the beach to have a swim?" I asked my original question. I heard a hiss from Kit, and glanced down to see her staring at me madly. "I **can't** help you, Kit, even if I wanted to. The doctor wouldn't let me, and I wouldn't know how, anyway."

"But...am Five Man..." Kit wailed in despair.

"Only in mind, Kit," Malachite growled. "You were never true Five Man! Only thought you were so..." I turned away, not wanting to listen.

"Um...well, I suppose it would be alright..." Mimete answered my question then. "We should probably run it past Dr. Tomoe, though..."

"Hey, so long as she isn't planning to try and **swim** away, I don't see a problem," Hotaru grinned. "Hell, I might even join you. Been hot lately."

"Will Melanie be joining us, too?" I asked. Hotaru just gave me the strangest look right then, which, frankly, should have told me something. I just didn't want to "hear" it.

"She doesn't do water," Hotaru quipped, and she and Mimete finished moving the cart into the courtyard, and with some of the trained Beast Folk's help, moved the three inside. As they were taken inside the laboratory, Dr. Tomoe appeared, his hair wet, which told me he'd probably just taken a bath of his own, and began to follow them in when a new spur of curiosity hit me full in the butt.

"Doctor..." I spoke up, feeling very timid. He turned to glance at me. "Um...could I... watch?"

"Watch?" he asked me, staring at me pointedly. "Watch what?"

"Your work..." I replied timidly. "I...I wanna see what you do...how you do it...make them more human, and less animal..." I stopped then, losing my nerve, but he just stared a moment longer, then his lips stretched into a large smile.

"Of course you can!" he said. "Come on in!" And with that, he opened the door and let me in, walking in just behind me. Within, the laboratory looked pretty much the same as the last time I'd gone inside it. The items in the sink previously had since been cleansed, and put away in their proper places around the room, a fresh set had been prepared by the waiting Kaolinite, and the tiger-woman was now strapped to the table.

Tomoe instructed me to stand to one side of the table, and watch only, handing me a small surgical robe, gloves, a cap, and a mask to wear, in case of splatter should they have to cut inward, he told me. The mask really only covered the bottom of my face, my mouth, chin, and nose, leaving my eyes clear and un-blocked. The cap, he instructed me, went on top of my head and had to have **all** of my hair placed up inside of it tightly, so as to keep it from dropping into any open incisions on the unfortunate patient. He, Mimete, and Kaolinite all donned similar outfits, and went to work.

I watched carefully as Tomoe and Kaolinite examined and perused the creature, talking about her as though she were nothing more than a broken toy. Mimete administered an injection of something, presumably the serum she invented to keep the Beasts "human", and then I got a real shock.

Hotaru, who had stepped aside to do I do I know not what, stepped back over to the table, dressed in a similar gown and mask to the rest of us present. She moved the fresh surgical tools over a bit, and when Tomoe asked for a scalpel, she immediately picked up the surgical knife and handed it to him.

I felt mesmerized. As Tomoe and Kaolinite performed what looked like a simplistic enough procedure - it looked like they were adjusting the hip bone, or something in that area - whenever they required a tool, they would call the name - scalpel, forceps, tongue(whatever that tool was), tweezers, splint, etc. - and Hotaru would instantly hand it over.

"Hotaru?" I asked quietly, not wanting to break the three doctors' concentration, lest I get in even bigger trouble than I already was. "Do you always help?"

"Of course I do," Hotaru replied. "I enjoy assisting father with the experiments, sometimes he let's me perform the incisions, and has even walked me through a transplant and graft. He's even allowed me to go solo once, but I got the suturing wrong a bit, but I've been practicing during these follow ups. Father thinks I should be ready to solo on a full conversion again with the next beast. We're gonna do a wolverine!" The last comment was with a zeal in her voice that made me decidedly uncomfortable.

And then the tiger-woman screamed in obvious pain, and I suddenly realized it was still awake! I felt horrified, and couldn't hold my tongue. I grabbed Tomoe's sleeve, gaining his attention.

"Shouldn't she be asleep right now?" I asked. "Or full of pain killer drugs, like what my dentist uses when he has to drill a cavity?"

"The procedure is more informative when they are conscious," Tomoe explained to me simply. Mimete looked like she was trying not give any input on this, though her face told me she had her own feelings about this.

"Besides, the pain will give them motivation not to miss another injection," Kaolinite stated. "One of our most basic tenants. Motivation plus incentive equals compliance and obedience. A very simple equation, really." Just then the tiger woman screamed again, and Hotaru grinned through her mask.

"Ooh, I think Beryl really felt that one!" she said, sending a chill up my spine. I stared at the tiger-woman again, trying to decide what to do, if I should do anything. I glanced to Mimete for advice, an opinion, something... She glanced back, and sighed.

"I'd be lying if I said I agreed," she stated. "But the doctor keeps close tabs on the anesthetics and sedatives. I couldn't ease her even if I wanted to. And believe me, I want to!" I found myself sighing, too, then, and shortly thereafter Hotaru and Tomoe sewed Beryl up, proclaimed her done, for now, and Hotaru wheeled her away with Kaolinite, the two returning shortly thereafter with Malachite, but on a different table that was still clean, and basically repeated the same procedures, though a bit differently.

By the time they finished with him, another curiosity entered my mind, and wanting to forestall what I knew was coming next, I voiced my question aloud.

"Hotaru?" I asked. "When did you start helping your father?"

"She was three the first time she toddled into the lab and tried to help her daddy," Tomoe answered while they sutured Malachite's new wounds closed. "We caught her before she could hurt herself, and she told us she was, quote, 'dying of boredom and loneliness', end quote." He finished up, and gave the signal, and Hotaru and Kaolinite took him away. At this point he and Mimete turned and removed their surgical gowns, washed up, and for a moment I though they were done for now, but then they retrieved clean gowns, etc., and slipped into them, ready for the last follow up of the day...Kit.

"After that," Tomoe continued unabated. "I made Hotaru a friend to keep her company, a 'sister', if you will." he seemed to look at me, as though I should have been able to guess who or what he was talking about. Just then Kaolinite and Hotaru, having also switched out their slightly bloody surgical outfits for fresh clean ones, rolled in with Kit, who looked absolutely terrified lying there.

"Please..." she begged. "Little mistress..." I turned myself away, looking at Hotaru who's eyes looked quite eager to begin.

"So, when were you allowed to...to help?" I asked, feeling a little timid, and trying not to scream out against hurting Kit, as it would get me nowhere, or her.

"Father first let me come in and actually watch when I was seven," Hotaru answered. "A few months after that, he allowed me to hand out the tools, and it was about when I was eight that he started teaching me how to do this myself."

"Seven!" I gulped. "Eight!"

"I considered her old enough to handle the work without hurting herself at that point, provided one of us was with her to hold her hands steady," Tomoe commented lightly. They proceeded, and as they adjusted her hips a little to try and make her more solidly two-legged, she began to buck slightly, and Tomoe grabbed my hand and placed it against the suture.

"Hold this while I tie it off!" he ordered. A glance told me Mimete and Kaolinite were using most of their strength just to hold her down, and Hotaru was rabidly using an instrument to keep the area clear of blood and other fluids. I felt sick, sicker than ever. Here I was, actually **helping** these people hurt Kit! And I wasn't even trying to pull away.

Not that I really had the time, Tomoe completed the suture in no time, and then finished up, completing Kit's augmentation. Shortly thereafter Kit was rolled away with the other two, and we all washed up, Tomoe intending to spend more time working with Motoki.

As we left the laboratory, Tomoe placed a hand on my shoulder.

"And now, Rini," he said with a sinister grin, "You are **truly** one of us. Welcome to your new home." I felt a shudder of hate, rage, and sickness wash through me, and dashed away. As fast as I could, I went right for the bathroom down the hall from my room, went inside, stripped off my clothes, and hopped in the bathtub. I scrubbed myself furiously, making myself bleed in a few places, but I didn't really care.

I had never felt so dirty before in my life. I now felt I **couldn't** go home. I had helped them! I was part of their madness, their "team". How could I possibly face my parents, my friends, **anyone** now?

And thus, it ends. Nah, just fooling. Next time, the "good" doctor gets a **big** surprise. And he won't be alone in that, either. Don't miss it now!

R&R!


	7. Tomoe's Fall & Beast Folk's Liberation

Welcome back; I'd continue your surgeries, but my other test subjects seem to have me a little tied up at the moment...uh...what're you gonna do with that...AAAAAAHHHH!!! As for Rini and her fellow humans upon the isle, they, too, are about to get "le rude awakening". But first, the disclaimers!

Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that order, none of whom are me.

The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.

**This** is emphasis, and _this_ is thought. And this is auditory/visual flashback.

And now, the terror continues...

_**The Island Of Dr. Tomoe**_

by Scorpinac

Chapter 7: Tomoe's Fall And The Beast Folk's Liberation

I'm not sure how long I bathed myself, but in due course Mimete came in and found me, and stopped me from scrubbing off every inch of skin I had. She held me and comforted me to the best of her ability for the next hour or two, I eventually pulling myself back together. She bandaged what spots I'd skinned in my haste, and took me down for some lunch to steady my nerves.

Later, I decided to walk about the compound, to try and relax and just forget what I had done in the laboratory. As I walked the grounds quietly, I noticed Tomoe walking around with Motoki, talking to him and working on making him more like a person and less like a big, man- eating kitty. He led the newest Beast Man up to the storage hut, and unlocked the door. Curious, I followed at a distance as he lead Motoki inside.

I walked up to the building and peered in from the still open door as Tomoe watched Motoki a few feet in front of me. Now that I could see the inside of the shed clearly, I saw it was indeed an animal holding pen with cages along both sides, holding a lion, a tiger, a goat, an ox, a wolf, a zebra, an antelope, and a couple of others I didn't quite recognize. Motoki seemed to be gazing upon them, as if trying to understand what he was seeing.

He moved toward the cage holding the lion, which was sitting lazily, from the looks of it, at least from where I stood, recently well fed. Motoki looked at it, his mind seeming to be casting back on what he once was. He reached out and lightly petted the beast on its head.

"You remember, don't you?" Tomoe asked. For a moment I thought he'd noticed that I was there, but then I realized he was actually talking to Motoki. "What you used to be, before I lifted you to a greater level. Must seem like a distant bad dream, huh, Motoki?" Motoki continued to quietly pet the large, maned cat, and then he did something he probably shouldn't have done, at least not in Tomoe's presence, anyway.

He meowed just like a cat.

"NO!" Tomoe roared, and grabbed something from a hook, and the tell-tale snap told me instantly it was a whip. He cracked it at Motoki, then again, and again. Without thinking, I ran forward, and jumped on Tomoe's arm, using all my weight to keep him from using the whip on Motoki again.

"STOP IT!" I screamed. "Leave him alone! It's not his fault!" Tomoe glanced at me, and chucked me off to land on my rear upon the floor, dropping the whip with me. Motoki had fallen back when the whip had started snapping, trying to avoid it as much as possible. He was whimpering, upset and in pain. Tomoe walked over to him and grasped him along side his head with both hands.

"You are human!" he snapped at the creature. "YOU ARE HUMAN!!" I found my footing, and stood up, not sure whether I should stay or leave. Tomoe went on like that for several more minutes, Motoki begging for forgiveness for his "error". Finally they seemed to calm down a bit, and we all left the storage hut. I quickly moved away to find something else to do lest Tomoe turn on me for stopping him from using the whip further, and after locking the hut down, he took Motoki and left.

---

A few days later, Motoki was sent out to the Beast Folks' settlement, to learn the "Law" more fully from the old Sayer, and took the rest of that particular day to rest and recover himself, as he put it. Within a few days I heard horrid, pained howling coming from the laboratory once again; Kaolinite told me they were now doing a female Jaguar, whom Tomoe was thinking of naming Yaten. I asked what had happened to the Wolverine Hotaru said they were going to do, and was told that apparently Tomoe had changed his mind about the order. Mimete said it wasn't the first time, and she expected it wouldn't be the last, either.

Within this time, Mimete taught me how to properly handle a gun, should I ever **have** to use one among the untrained Beast Folk again, and where they were kept stored, and for this, in the end, I must say I am actually grateful for. For the next several days my feelings for those around me ebbed, and in time I think I cared only that I was not alone.

But as it happens, I was soon to be alone again. The jaguar was to be Tomoe's last experiment, one that would end in a horrible disaster! It was on the eighty-eighth day of my stay on the island that this disaster occurred, and I honestly cannot say what exactly it was that happened.

It was mid-afternoon, and I was sitting in the lounge, working on a jigsaw of one of those giant dirigible crafts, like the Hindenberg thing that blew up back in nineteen thirty seven. I could hear the now light roaring of the poor Jaguar in the laboratory, when suddenly Kaolinite's voice rose in terror, and Tomoe's in anger, and many cries of panic. And then something smashed through the lounge and knocked me aside, sending me to the floor. I caught myself with one hand, wrongly, and I **swear** I felt my wrist snap from the pressure of my weight. I looked up fast enough to see what looked like a thing wrapped in bloody bandages crashing outside and down to the gate. I rose up, favoring my poor left wrist, as Tomoe and Kaolinite raced out after the thing, guns and whips in hand.

A few moments later I heard a smashing sound, as if something were being broken apart in a flash of haste, along with a screech of panic or horror, I'm not really sure which, maybe both at once. Curious, but not **that** curious, I carefully moved through the newly smashed wall and peered down to the gate to see what was happening. Unazuki was half sitting, half lying on the ground where she'd been knocked aside from the look of it, just as I had been, and Nephrite and Jadeite were dashing to her aid while Kyusuke and Haruka, who had also come out to see what had happened, stared at the blood and damage, trying to understand what was going on, a few others following them out. Greg, from his tower, also looked down in curiosity.

The most telling thing, though, was even as I glanced down to the gate, I could tell it had been partially damaged, the bandaged thing that had formerly been a Jaguar having smashed its way through and to the "freedom" of the jungle with its pure brute strength, leaving a great blood trail in its wake that made me feel a little ill to my stomach. I thought about what to do next when Mimete, Hotaru, and Melanie came running, fear and worry on their face.

"What the...what the Hell happened in here?!" Mimete stared at the damage.

"The new experiment got away," I said. "It...ran out through the gate...oww..." I winced in pain, gripping my wrist, and Mimete came over and kneeled, taking my hand in hers for a look.

"Looks like a mild sprain, maybe a small fracture. I'll have to take a better look and run a couple simple tests," she said, rubbing my wrist gently. "Where are..."

"They went after it," I answered her question before she finished, having been, to be honest, expecting it anyway.

"Probably won't live, anyway," Hotaru commented, looking outside at the damaged gate and the blood. "Not if it's bleeding **that** badly."

"So what do we do?" I asked Mimete, feeling just a little nervous.

"Well, for now we trust that Tomoe and Kaolinite will be fine, and take care of what we can here," she replied, then turned to Hotaru. "Hotaru, why don't you take Rini over to the lab and run a simple x-ray, give us an idea of how hurt she actually is, and give her some aspirin or something for the pain. I'll go get Nephrite and the others busy on fixing the gate, that has to be done first. We can worry about the damage to the house later."

For a moment, Hotaru looked ready to argue, then relented and took me by the shoulder while Mimete stood back up and went outside to organize the trained Beast servants. I didn't argue, and simply went with Hotaru to the lab, and she immediately gave me a pair of pills and a glass of water, with I took gratefully. She then prepped a machine real fast, and laid my hurt arm on a small plate under it, wrapping a heavy apron around me, and then tapping something on the machine that resulted in a flash. A few minutes, which felt like hours, later she pulled out a piece of film and looked at it.

"Hmm, yeah, looks like a minor fracture of the wrist, probably gonna need a light cast," she muttered as she stared at the sheet showing the bones in my arm and hand.

"Can I take this off?" I asked, and she glanced at me and put down the film, then removed the apron and put it away. She then got out some bandages and a sling and set them down and picked up the film again just as Mimete came in, and handed it to her. Mimete looked at it thoughtfully, then took my hand and gave a squeeze, which made me wince a little, then took the bandages and wrapped my wrist tightly before putting my arm in the sling.

"Probably don't need the sling, really, but best not to be tempted to use the arm for a day or two, kiddo," she told me.

"Any sign of Tomoe and Kaolinite?" I asked.

"Not that I saw," Mimete replied. "I'm gonna grab a gun and go look for them. You two stay here in the house." She walked out, and Hotaru and I stepped out of the lab and went back towards the lounge.

"Why weren't you helping your father work on the Jaguar?" I asked.

"I was, but I took a break to have a snack," Hotaru explained. "Mimete, too."

I sat down and waited quietly, Hotaru stepping away for a few moments and returning with two pistols, one of which she put on the table for me.

"Just in case," she told me. I nodded, and stared out the damaged wall, waiting for one of them to come back, any of them. I prayed the Jaguar hadn't hurt them, and, to my own surprise, I actually hoped that they would have to kill it rather than bring it back.

I'm not really sure how long we waited there for the grown-ups, but then Mimete came back, looking pale and horrified, almost not looking at anything until Nephrite cut her off. She blinked, said something, then continued into the house as he signaled the others who began getting wood and supplies to fix the house, the gate having already been patched for the moment. When she finally got to us, we both looked up expectantly. She ignored us, opening a nearby cabinet and pulling out a bottle and filling a glass, swallowing it quickly.

"Well?" I asked after she took another glassful down. "Where are they?"

"Not coming," she breathed, her voice shaky. "It...it...ripped her arm off...attacked him... he shot it...it's dead, but...it...it...it...mauled him...they're gone...they're both gone..." I just stared, trying to take it all in, and then Hotaru screamed.

"NO!!" she yelled. "YOU'RE LYING! HE CAN'T BE DEAD! FATHER CAN'T DIE! HE CAN'T!"

"Sounds like he did, Hotaru," I whispered. "I'm sorry..." The thing is, I'm not really sure if I was or not, all things considered. But Hotaru wasn't listening. She grabbed her gun and dove out of the house, not even stopping to change her clothes first. Without thinking, I grabbed my own and followed her, straight out the gate and into the jungle.

She followed the trail of blood left by the former Jaguar, and I followed her, until we ran into Juno and Malachite, who were standing about, seemingly confused. Nearby was Kakeru and, to my surprise, the Sayer Of The Law.

"What is...happen?" Juno asked. "Is He...dead?"

"Yes!" Malachite declared. "He **is** dead!"

"NO!" Hotaru screamed again. "He can't be! He isn't!" She stormed past the two and went a little further in, then a few moments later came to a halt, and just stared. I walked up beside her, Juno and Malachite joining me, Kakeru and the Sayer just behind.

"Is he...?" the Sayer asked, but I was just staring at what lay ahead, too shocked to think for a moment.

Lying on the ground, in a mess of blood and dirt, were Tomoe, Kaolinite, and the Jaguar. The Jaguar lay to one side, two or more bullet holes in its body, not moving a bit, dead. It was probably better off, anyway. A little bit away from it was Kaolinite, her left hand clutching the stump that had formerly held her right arm, her face bleach white, a look of shock and horror on her face. I could tell that she was already well past saving.

The closest to us was Tomoe himself, and he looked dreadful. His body looked ripped up, probably by the dead Jaguar's claws, and his neck looked like it had grabbed on with its teeth... and pulled. A gun lay in his right hand, loosely, and his left hand lay just under his torn throat, as though trying to staunch the blood. I knew it was over. The "experiment" had come to a final, horrible end. Doctor Tomoe...had died.

---

"NOOOOO!!!!" Hotaru screamed into the air, and dove onto her father, shaking him and beating on his bloody chest. "He's alive! He's alive!! Wake up, daddy...please wake up..." She had started sobbing, tears flowing freely down her face. I tried to imagine for a moment that it was my daddy lying there, murdered by a monstrous beast, and knew I'd most likely react the same way.

"Hotaru, I..." I tried to speak, but then a hand touched my shoulder, and I turned to see Mimete, a pistol in a holster on her hip. Nephrite was with her, as was Kyusuke and Haruka.

"Let her be for now," she said quietly. "She needs a moment to let it all in. I think we all do..." She sounded so...haunted. Just then, Beryl came out of the trees, and sniffed at Kaolinite's remains, nudging it with her hands. Then she moved over to Tomoe, even as Hotaru sobbed over him, and nudged him, too, then jumped back, then moved forward and nudged him again. Hotaru glanced up, and growled.

"Get away!" she snapped. "Leave him alone!"

"He's **dead!**" she declared. "He is **dead!** He is **not** the Hand!"

"No..." Hotaru growled.

"If he is dead," the Sayer said, "is there still Law?"

"No!" Beryl cried. "There is **no more** Law! Now we free! Free to live as we want, as man, or as animal!" In a moment I realized they could decide that, with Tomoe no longer around to stop them or punish them, they could devour the rest of us!

"Is it true?" Haruka asked. "Are we free from Law? Is Law no more?" I looked to Mimete for a response, but she was still too overwhelmed at the sudden deaths of Tomoe and Kaolinite, and I knew nothing would come from Hotaru, as she was still grief stricken. I thought over my options, and made my choice. I still don't know what got into me...

"NO!" I cried out. "There is **still** Law! There is **always** Law!" Giving it some quick thought, I added, "They are not dead, they have only changed. They have risen, to a new level, with the spirits in Heaven! Now He and She watch you, watch us all, from there, with greater power than ever!" Actually, I imagine that once they got to the Golden Gates, God took one look at them, then opened a trap door beneath them and sent them down to his "good friend", Mr. Lucifer, in the fiery bad place.

Beryl looked at me, even as Nephrite and Kyusuke nodded in agreement with me. I noticed Kakeru and Malachite thinking it over, and Juno nodding her head.

"Yess...is true," Juno agreed. "Your's is the Hand...little Mistress."

"NO!" Beryl screeched. "There **is** no Hand! No hand **no more**! Now, we eat flesh! Now, we shed blood!!" She started to rear up, aiming herself at Hotaru, who seemed to look up only dully, and on pure instinct I raised my gun and fired a shot, missing Beryl just slightly, and startling Hotaru into jumping back from Tomoe's body for the moment. She looked up at me in surprise, as did Beryl. I focused my attention on the tiger woman.

"Keep away from her, Beryl!" I warned. "I won't miss next time, I promise! Mine is the Hand! And so is Hers! Ours are **still** the Hands! Now get back! And obey the Law!" Beryl growled for a moment, then shuffled back. I glanced at Mimete, but she was still just staring mostly, kind of...distant. I thought it over, and turned to Nephrite and Haruka.

"Nephrite, Haruka, grab Tomoe and Kaolinite," I instructed. "We're taking them back to the compound." They did as I told them, and I asked Kakeru to get the Jaguar and bring it as well, and we went back. As we went, I took the time to get a good look at the dead former Jaguar, and found that it, in fact, had about ten or so bullet holes in its body. From the looks of it, Tomoe and/or Kaolinite had shot it repeatedly when it made its final attack, the beast holding out until it had delivered the fatal blows to its tormentors before letting itself roll over and die. Once inside the gate of the compound, I had Kakeru hand the Jaguar off to Unazuki, then I had Jadeite and Umino gather a large pile of wood in the middle of the courtyard. Next, I had Nephrite, Haruka, and Unazuki place all three of the bodies atop the pile, and went to the kitchen and got some cooking oil, putting my gun away as I went. I'd have used another fuel, but I didn't really know where to look for any.

I splashed the oil all over the wood and the bodies, and then got a long fireplace match and struck it. While all this was done, Melanie and the other trained Beast Folk had emerged, looking at the remains of Tomoe and Kaolinite in shock and awe, trying to comprehend what had occurred, that they were gone.

"Anyone want to say anything?" I asked quietly, noticing Mimete finally come out of her stupor enough to hold Hotaru back.

"What are you doing...?" Melanie asked, she and all the trained Beast Folk of the house watching me carefully.

"This is all we can do for them, and it'll keep the ones in the jungle from trying to eat them later, if we...lose control..." I said simply. Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then Mimete finally spoke up.

"He wasn't the best employer, but he had his moments," she said. "Kaolinite...well, she was dedicated to him, maybe even in love with him. I think, to some degree, I'll miss them both." I nodded in agreement, and tossed the match onto the fire, where it lit up brightly, swallowing the bodies, wood, and all into flame.

And the thing I'll always remember about that moment, above all else, was Hotaru keening into the air, her grief and loss all coming out at once.

---

After the fire had destroyed the bodies completely and been put out, Mimete drew Hotaru inside, both of them seeming to have gone into a bit of a zombie state, and I found myself being looked to by all the others for guidance. With no other ideas, I told Nephrite to have the others continue fixing the house, and to have at least three of the trained Beast Folk concentrate on properly repairing the gate.

I then went up to the tower, where Greg had been watching us from the whole time, to see about summoning a retrieval boat, quickly! As far as I was concerned, I, Mimete, Hotaru, and Melanie were now on borrowed time, the untrained Beast Folk simply waiting for the moment to slay us as well.

"Little Mistress?" Greg asked as I got to the top. Which was an interesting challenge this time as my arm was still in a sling.

"I'm canceling Tomoe's last order," I said. "Call a boat, Greg, and tell them that it needs to hurry. It's to pick up me, Hotaru, Melanie, and Mimete this time. I'm...sorry, Greg, but I don't think the four of us can stay here anymore..."

"I...understand..." Greg said, a sadness in his voice, and he went to work on the radio. By then it was late, the sun beginning to set, and all that had happened that day was starting to catch up to me. I then went back down, and into the house to the lounge, where I sat down to rest and to try to relax my nerves. I had never thought it possible to feel at the same time both powerful... and powerless...

---

I guess that I dozed off for a while, because the next thing I remember is being shaken awake by Melanie, Kyusuke and Unazuki nearby. The sky outside was black.

"Hmm? What is it, Melanie?" I asked, yawning.

"Mistress Mimete and Hotaru are destroying everything!" she cried. "Please, please stop them!" For a moment it didn't quite sink in, but then it did and I was wide awake again!

"What do you mean, they're destroying everything?!" I asked, and charged out into the hall. As I passed the hall that lead to the laboratory, I noticed that the door was hanging open, as if forgotten. I turned and went over, and glanced inside.

It was a mess! Everything had been tossed around, the glass items smashed onto the floor, other things thrown here or there, all of the equipment destroyed one way or another. I stared at the devastation, trying to take it all in.

"What...how...who...?" I stuttered out.

"Mistress Mimete," Melanie answered.

"Said...wasn't...needed...anymore," Unazuki explained.

"Yes, smashed all, smashed all," Kyusuke chanted.

"Where is...?" I started, then heard a crash from outside, and dashed out to the courtyard, and screamed.

The radio tower had been toppled over, the machinery broken into shards and bits and some of it lightly burning! Mimete was near the wreckage, a bottle of wine in her hand, half empty, and as I watched she took a big gulp right from it, her cheeks pink and her whole attitude seeming a little...off.

"Oh, hey, kiddo! Hic!" she greeted me. "How are yoush?"

"Mimete...did you...?" I pointed at the downed tower.

"Yesh, don' need it anymoressh," she said. I noticed Greg limping nearby, his leg clearly hurt from probably having to jump for his life as the tower came down. At least he was still alive, at least for the moment.

"But...but we did!" I cried. "We needed to call another boat to take us away from here!"

"Why?" she smiled swayingly. "I'm an outcast, Hotaru has no memories of the outside world, and you...ah, who caresh..."

"I care!" I snapped, then took a deep breath. "Where's Hotaru?"

"Over theresh," she pointed with her bottle, then took another gulp. I glanced over and saw the girl in the garden, dancing around with a stick in one hand that she was using to tear up the ground around her. I could tell she wasn't well, she was giggling and spinning about with a look of joyful madness on her face. I walked over carefully.

"Hotaru?" I asked, feeling timid. She glanced at me, as though I were someone she'd never met before.

"Hello, how are you?" she smiled at me, her eyes looking dazed and lost. "I'm the pretty, pretty Princess of our island kingdom. Have you brought me a gift?"

"Hotaru, please," I grabbed her. "Please, you gotta calm down. We gotta get off the island!"

"Why would I leave?" she asked. "I'm the Princess, and everyone does what I say..." I shuddered, realizing it was hopeless. Her father's death had been too much. She was going mad! And then I realized I could see quite easily. Light was coming from behind me. I turned slowly, and saw for the first time that the animal storage hut was ablaze. I gulped.

"What...who did that?!" I cried, pointing at the blaze.

"Mistress...Hotaru," Unazuki answered. "Said...was...not...necessary..."

"But what about...what about the animals still inside?!" I felt my heart sinking quickly.

"She left them!" Melanie replied. "She said they were better off destroyed! We couldn't stop her, she had a gun..." I felt officially sick. By now, nothing could be done for the poor things. I decided to take my chances with Mimete. At least she was still more or less on Earth! I turned and dashed back, only to notice she'd left her handiwork behind. I will admit it. I panicked. I went looking for her, but couldn't find her anywhere at first.

Now again scared for my life, I went back to the cabinet where the guns were stored, and placed one in my pocket and took another in my hand, making sure first that they were both loaded. I had just begun looking again when I heard her voice back outside. I dashed out, and saw her with two more bottles of liquor, Jadeite, Nephrite, and Haruka walking around with her, the others watching from around the yard.

"PARTY!" she cried. "I'm on **holiday!** We're **all** on holiday! Party, party, party! Yeah!" She danced around, looking very tipsy, her coat slipping off to reveal her black dress beneath. I carefully made my way over to her, my choice made.

"Mimete?" I asked, hoping she wouldn't turn on me.

"Hey, Rini!" she answered. "Wanna drink? It'ssh party time!"

"No thanks," I replied. "Mimete, where do you keep the keys to the launch?"

"Launsh? Launsh? Launsh?" she muttered, as though it were unknown to her. "Oh, in the lounge, fourth shelf, behind Metricsh And Gameelssh Medishal Enshylopedya... C'mon! Letsh partay!"

"Okay, thanks," I said. "Maybe later." And with that I quickly went back inside. Once in the lounge, I put my spare gun down on the table, and found the book in question. It was just high enough I had to stand on tiptoe to reach it and pull it down, simply dropping it on the floor, and then I reached up and, after a little feeling around, found the keys and put them in my pocket. I then turned to find Melanie, Unazuki, and Kyusuke were still with me, having trailed me all over since I woke earlier that night.

"What are you doing?" Melanie asked.

"Little...Mistress?" Unazuki stared.

"Melanie, we have to get some bags and fill them with food and drink, then load them on the launch," I explained. "We can't stay here anymore, it's just a matter of time before the ones in the jungle decide to throw aside the Law completely! We'll knock Hotaru and Mimete out and **throw** them onboard if we have to!"

Right then, Greg limped inside, looking pained, but otherwise okay, and a small hope blossomed inside me.

"Greg?" I asked him. "Did you manage to get out a message for a boat?"

"Tried, Mistress, tried," Greg answered. "But much noise today, many messages back and forth, some in words Greg not know, something about fighting and dying in place Greg not familiar with. Was still waiting for clear channel when Mistress Mimete destroy Greg's tower. What now for me to do?"

"You can help us pack food and drinks to put on the launch," I sighed. I had a feeling things in Europe were about to get explosive anyway, as the first time I'd gone up to the tower during my stay the reply back had stated that full war had broken out, a term I'd later asked and had explained to me by Mimete.

"Launch, Mistress?" he asked.

"If we can point ourselves in the right direction, we can at least try to make for a mainland," I stated. "C'mon, everyone, let's go." We located the bags I'd found before and took a bunch, then I led them to the kitchen. We proceeded to fill at least three or four with food stuffs, and then another five with fruit punches, juices, and water bottles. I then turned to Melanie to ask the next all important question.

"Melanie, do you know if there's a map of the ocean anywhere around here? So we can know where we're going?" I asked.

"I think so, but I think it would be kept in either Mistress Kaolinite's or the Doctor's room," she said. I nodded, and had her lead me up to them. Upon entering Kaolinite's room, I noticed her things had been tossed asunder, no doubt more of Mimete and/or Hotaru's work, but I searched anyway. I found a map of the whole Atlantic, but it seemed a little much, so I moved on to Tomoe's room, and it was even worse! Clothes, ripped up and shredded, lay everywhere, the personal desk torn open and the contents thrown all over, the bed broken down the middle somehow - it made my bedroom back home seem neat in comparison.

"Ah, geez," I muttered, and started looking around. Outside, I could hear Mimete's "holiday" still in progress, and it sounded like she'd gone outside the gate onto the beach. And for a moment I thought I heard something cracking or breaking, and figured they were maybe playing some kind of impromptu drum or smacking tree branches together. Looking back now, I **really** should have run back out sooner!

After some more looking, I found a map that was a close up of what I presumed to be the immediate area of the ocean. A spot where no island was had been marked on it, and when I showed it to Greg, he stated that the marked spot was where he had been taught by Tomoe that we were in the vast open blue water. Feeling closer to safety, I took both maps I had found and headed back down to the kitchen, and instructed Unazuki and Kyusuke to pick up what they could carry to take to the launch. I'd send them back for the rest after.

"What abut the serum?" Melanie asked. "We can't leave without that!"

"Serum?" I asked, blinking.

"Yes, Mistress Mimete's serum," Greg said. "Serum that keeps us men. We need it, to stay man when we leave, cannot go without it."

"Oh, that," I replied. "Um, not to be mean, Greg, but I wasn't really thinking on taking any of you. I mean, you and Unazuki and Kyusuke would kind of stick out among normal people. Since, you know, you're not...really..."

"But if we stay, we die!" Kyusuke cried. "Beryl soon to throw over Sayer Of The Law, destroy all those who not run with her!"

"I know, I know, but...well, I suppose she can make more on the mainland," I gave in. Just then, we all heard a horrid scream, followed by more, coming from outside, and I dashed outside, all the way to the beach, and gasped.

The ones in the jungle had not waited as long as I'd hoped. Malachite had come, with Chad and at least three other untrained Beast Folk, and had attacked Mimete and the ones with her, Jadeite, Nephrite, Umino, Haruka, and Joe. It was clear that a fight had broken out, and the Beast Folk had turned on one another, ripping into each other's hides and bringing death. And Malachite had gone straight for Mimete.

The various Beast Folk were in various states of injury, some of them having torn one another's throats out. Of all of them, only Nephrite still seemed alive, and only barely. As I looked closer, I saw that his body had been badly torn by another creature's claws and teeth, his chest seeping out blood all over, and in a moment of compassion, I pulled out my spare gun and ended his pain once and for all.

Then I turned to Mimete, who had, thankfully, driven a knife into Malachite's chest, into his heart, but not before being badly clawed and chewed on. She looked almost lifeless, but as I watched her for a moment, I could see her chest still rising and falling, ever so slightly. I dove over and dropped to my knees, praying she still lived.

"Mimete?! Mimete?!" I cried. "Please, wake up!" I shook her a little, hoping she'd stir, begging god to let her stay with us a while longer. She moaned, her eyes fluttering, and she glanced up at me. I smiled happily, lifting her head up in my arm. "That's it, just stay with us, Mimete. Please don't go, we need you..."

"Oh, hi kiddo," she said quietly. "I really need to stop going on benders..."

"It's okay, Mimete. It's okay," I told her. "We can fix you, you'll be fine, and then we'll all go on the launch, and make for Bermuda or wherever the nearest mainland is. We'll be safe soon..."

"Don't...think...I'm gonna...be there...Rini..." Mimete got out, then moaned once more. "Sorry..." And then her eyes fluttered closed, and her body went limp, her head lolling to one side in my arm. I sobbed.

She was dead.

---

"All gone..." Hotaru's voice floated over to us from behind. I turned around to see her standing a few feet away, swaying about, still lost in her own private world. "Gone, gone, gone," she sing songed, "all gone away. First daddy, then mommy Kaolinite, now mommy Mimete, they all went away to heaven, leaving the Princess all alone. Gone, gone, gone..." She idly danced away, moving along the beach. I watched her go for a moment, then turned my attention back to Mimete and laid her head back down, and quietly cried my tears for her, not knowing what else to do right then.

"The boats!!" Melanie cried out, and I turned to see what was up, and felt the blood drain out of me.

Mimete and her "party" had taken axes and hammers and destroyed my original lifeboat! What hadn't been set on fire now lay in bits along the nearby shore. I swallowed, feeling myself shake, and prayed it had been left alone. It hadn't; dock, launch, and all had been torn apart, burned, and otherwise destroyed. We'd packed for nothing.

We were forever trapped here...

I glanced around, and saw a wine bottle near Mimete's hands, and picked it up, cleaning the bottle head off on my dress. It was still half full, and I considered my remaining options. _I really shouldn't_, I thought. Then I cursed for the first time in my life.

"Oh, the **hell** with it!" I cussed. "To Mimete!" I rose the bottle to my lips, and began drinking it down, ignoring the bitterness of the taste...

And thus, it ends. Well, not quite. Still one more chapter to go; hopefully I'll have it out before the end of January. No promises, though. But I'd definitely call it possible right now, I'm on a roll again! Will Rini escape the island? Will she ever see her family again? Will Hotaru ever regain her mind? Find out, next time!

Happy 2005, everyone!

R & R now, ya' hear!


	8. Hotaru's Madness, Beast Men's Regression

And so, here we are. Approaching the bitter end. The only adult humans are gone, and the Beast Folk are on the brink of full revolution. Is there any hope left for Rini and her erstwhile allies? Let's find out. But first, the disclaimers!

Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that order, none of whom are me.

The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.

**This** is emphasis, and _this_ is thought. And ((this)) is auditory/visual flashback.

Yes, I am one of the laziest, most distractible human beings on the planet.

And now, the terror continues...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_**The Island Of Dr. Tomoe**_

by Scorpinac

Ch. 8: Hotaru's Madness And The Beast Folk's Regression

I'd like to say I can remember what happened next, but the truth is I can't recall anything clearly from that point until the next morning, when I woke up to the waves of the ocean smacking in to me...and my head hurting like I never thought it could hurt! Plus what looked like throw-up on my dress and the dirt.

The wine bottle? It lay about three feet away from me, empty so far as I could see. I know, I shouldn't have, but frankly, I figured I was dead already anyway, for all that it mattered. I had no way left off the island, no way to call for help, and of my remaining companions, there was only the semi-subservient Beast Folk, one girl who didn't seem to know how to function without being told what to do, and another who was in a state of madness.

In short, I figured I was done for.

As I gathered myself together and looked around, I noticed several Beast Folk lingering by a newly created, and now burning out, funeral pyre that held several torched bodies on it. And since Mimete's and the slain Beast Folk's bodies from the previous night were now gone, I knew who it had to be. Hotaru stood at the head of the Folk, Melanie just beside her, and not far away was the old Sayer. Next to me was Kyusuke and Kit, who looked concerned.

"Are you all right, little Mistress?" Kyusuke asked. I felt my head give another horrid pound, and held it in my hand as I fought a wave of dizziness and the sudden urge to puke again before I replied.

"I've been better," I moaned slightly. "I really shouldn't've done that..."

"Oh, she's awake!" Melanie's voice cried out and I glanced back to the group standing at the pyre, who were now looking my way. Greg and Unazuki started towards me as Hotaru glanced over, and I wondered for a moment if she'd regained her mind. Though I must admit, I had little hope left for her now.

"Oh, hello again," she said, her eyes still lost and dazed. "Did you just come back from the dead?"

"No," I said, though I gotta admit it sure felt like it right then. "I just fell asleep..." I stopped right then as my eyes went behind her to the compound...or what **was** the compound! I rose, and dove forward through the gate, and saw to my dismay that the fire from the animal storage hut had decided to jump onto the house – now only a pile of burnt wood remained of each. We had nowhere to live!

"All burned away," Hotaru said behind me, and I turned to look at her. "The castle burned up, so now I'll live among my subjects, the pretty, pretty Princess all alone." With that, she turned and started walking toward the forest, the beast folk following behind. The only ones who stayed behind were Kyusuke, Kit, Greg, and Unazuki, the last two looking unsure of who to go with. I just slumped again, this time lying against the wall, lost in thought, trying to decide what I was going to do next.

"Little Mistress?" Kit asked. "Are you alright?" My head decided to punish me again for my naughty act the night before, so I didn't reply for a few moments.

"I think I'm gonna live," I said. "I just don't know what I'm gonna do now..."

"You live with me?!" Kit's eyes brightened, clearly liking the idea of me sharing her home. "My cave have plenty room. Plenty for little Mistress."

"Please, don't call me Mistress anymore," I said, and they all looked shocked. "Just call me Rini, okay?" They looked uncertain, as though the very idea was wrong to them, but to tell the truth, I just didn't care anymore. I was never really their "Mistress", I only ever wanted to be a guest until I could get home, and now I was stuck, and still didn't think of myself as a leader to them in any way.

That was when I heard the sob, and glanced over to notice that Melanie was also still with us, sitting in the remains of the compound. She was furiously digging where I can only think the lab once sat, tears in her eyes.

"Has to be some left," she said, looking a little bit freaked out. "There just **has** to be!" Greg walked over to her, laying a hand upon her shoulder.

"No, Melanie, gone," he said. "All gone. No more, forever." Melanie sobbed again, making me all the more confused.

"Yes!" Kit agreed, very cheerfully. "We all free forever now, House of Pain no more, never again!"

"But the serum!!" Melanie wailed, then looked at me. She stared for a moment, then dove at me, her hands gripping the front of my dress. "You can make more, right!?" she pleaded. "Please, you just have to make more!"

"But I don't know how," I said. "Only Mimete did, and she's gone."

"But I **need** it!" Melanie wailed. "It's my day today! I have to have it! I don't **want** to turn back! I want to stay the way I **am**!!" I stared at her, trying to understand why Melanie would want to take Mimete's serum, since it was only meant for...and then the awful truth slammed me in the face, and I can't help but wonder if getting hit by a car feels like that.

(("Very well done. Like the other, the one who stays in the compound, with the 'little Mistress'",)) the Sayer of the Law's words when he'd "looked" at me came back into my mind. The constant commentaries about there being only one 'little Mistress' aside of me in the compound, Melanie being allowed only an axe when they sought me out after my second escape attempt, the constant exclusion of Melanie when anyone, including Tomoe himself that fateful day I came to the Beast Folk's "town" for the first time, listed the "true men" of the island. All these clues, and probably more, were there, and only now did they finally make sense; only now did I finally **see**!

"You..." I breathed, looking Melanie in the eyes, then jabbed a finger on my uninjured arm towards the others present. "You're one of **them**?!" And Melanie just stared back, as if I should have known that all along.

"Yes," she finally answered. "Dr. Tomoe made me for Hotaru, to be her friend." I felt my heart skip a few beats as I tried to get my head around it. How could I not realize?! How could I miss such a thing?!

"But you look like me!" I finally snapped out the obvious. "You look like a real human, not one of Tomoe's...beast people!" She smiled at me for a moment at that.

"His...greatest...work...," Unazuki commented. "He...said...she...almost...perfect."

"But I need the serum!" Melanie began to cry again. "Good as I am, I still need it, too! Please, please don't let me turn back!"

"Turn back?" I blinked, then remembered Tomoe's explanation for how he had made all of the creatures.

(("The same continual problems of the animal flesh growing back, reverting,")) he had said. (("She[Mimete came to accept my work, and even developed a powerful serum which halts the reversion process, keeping them human longer and more powerfully. But in the end even the serum has proven only temporary, the animal still trying to force itself back, prompting further doses every now and then, to maintain them."))

"You're going to become an animal again," I whispered. "All of you..."

"But I don't want to!" Melanie wailed. "I want to stay human!" The only thing I could think to do right then was hug her, the way my mommy always hugs me when I'm really upset about something and crying. She was so upset she didn't care about the mess on my dress.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "I wish I could help you. I really do."

---

After a few moments I decided that there wasn't really any reason to stay in the compound's remains, and finally stood up, with a little help from Greg and Unazuki. Kyusuke came up to me, his hands outstretched.

"You left this, on beach," he said, clearly still seeing me as being "in charge." I looked at what he held – the spare gun I'd had in my pocket, the one I used to "free" Nephrite from his final moments of pain. I blinked, then recalled dropping it on the sand when I turned to try and help the dying Mimete. I took it, and checked to find that no other bullets but the one I had used on Nephrite the night before had been fired, and that thankfully, by some miracle, very little sand had actually gotten into it.

"Thanks," I said as I returned it to my pocket, hoping I wouldn't have to use it anymore, but fearing I might. Then I turned to Kit. "So, you want me to move in with you?" Kit's eyes lit up happily, her face getting a really big smile on it.

"Yes, yes, you come? Live with Kit?" she asked.

"It's as good as anywhere right now," I said, and we walked out of the gate – and found Beryl waiting for us, crouching near the front of the woods, staring at us with what looked like hate in her eyes. My hand dove back into my pocket and took hold of the gun. I had only nine shots left, and felt certain that I would have to use one upon Beryl – of all the remaining Beast Folk, she I feared the most, as, after her attempt to attack Hotaru while she cried over her father's dead body just the day before, I felt very sure she would take any chance to kill me, as well as Hotaru and anyone else she thought needed to be killed.

"What do you want?!" I shouted to her, trying my best to be brave.

"Only little Mistresses, now," she commented. "I was right, he **is** dead." At this I must admit, my panic took me over. I pulled the gun out of my pocket and fired a shot at her, hoping against hope to get rid of her quickly, but sadly I forgot to **aim**, and the bullet harmlessly smacked into a tree a few feet away from her. But either way, she got my message, and quickly turned and ran back into the woods. I pocketed the gun again, and turned to my "followers", feeling a little embarrassed.

"I think she wants to kill me," I admitted quietly.

"But, you are Mistress," Greg said, clearly shocked that Beryl would want to end my life. "We must obey you."

"That didn't stop her from lunging at Hotaru yesterday, Greg," I told him. "It didn't stop Malachite and the ones who came with him from killing Mimete." It occurred to me then that Beryl may even have sent Malachite and the others with him to do it, though I'll probably never really know.

"Mistress...Rini...not...safe?" Unazuki asked.

"Well, from Beryl, probably," I said. "You guys I feel safe with, I'll have to wait and see about the others." Leaving it at that, I went back down to the beach and tried to wash the throw up off my dress. Sadly, I think I waited too long, as I was still left with an unpleasant stain when I finished, but at least it was better than when I first woke up that morning. Then I headed towards the jungle's trees and entered again, the others following, Kit leaping ahead and leading us back to the Beast Folk's town.

---

When we got there, I noticed something new was being built. A bunch of wood had been neatly piled in the center of town, and a high chair was being put together atop it, Hotaru telling Catzi and Zoicite, along with three or four of the untrained Folk, what to do. Greg, Unazuki, Kit, and Kyusuke watched in curiosity, and Melanie went over to Hotaru and started talking to her. In moments she was starting to wail again, and then, to my shock, Hotaru shoved her away, causing Melanie to fall down on her butt.

"There isn't going to be any more, so stop whining about it!" she snapped, then drifted back into her daze. "The Queen has other things to do..." Melanie began crying, and I walked over, laying my hand on her shoulder. Clearly, she'd turned to Hotaru in hopes of new serum, and was once again refused.

"I don't think she knows how to make it any more than I do, Melanie," I told her. "And besides, Hotaru's in her own world now. I don't think she'll ever go back to the way she was. I don't think she wants to." Melanie sobbed a little more then just sat there quietly. A few moments later the three pig-kids came up with trays of food, and Hotaru helped herself, then had them follow her over to me.

"Here, my dear courtier, eat and replenish yourself," she told me, indicating the food.

"That's okay, I'm..." I started, but then my tummy gave a very loud argument to the opposite, and I quickly changed my mind. "Thank you, I think I will," I said carefully, and helped myself to the food and quickly filled my stomach, the whole time watching Hotaru and keeping an eye out for Beryl, who was at that time thankfully missing. Afterward, I went back to Kit – Greg, Unazuki, and Kyusuke had joined the others in building the chair – and asked her to take me to her cave. She lead me over to it, and I slipped inside, set up a simple wall with branches and rocks in the opening, and laid down to take a nap. I needed to relax my still hurting, but much less so, head, and I hoped anyone who came looking to hurt me would make enough noise coming through the wall to wake me before it was too late.

---

When I woke up again, I found I wasn't alone, and my wall had apparently run away. Kyusuke was curled up next to me, snuggling like a normal dog, and Kit was nearby, munching on a piece of fruit. My head felt **much **better now, so I glanced outside, and noticed the sun seemed to be about half-way across the sky, and my stomach agreed – time for lunch. Glancing back to Kit, I noticed she'd brought in several more fruits and a bunch of vegetables. Sitting up carefully, because the cave's ceiling was maybe only a little higher than I am tall, I scooched over to the food, and reached for a carrot.

"Are you now all better?" Kit asked, her smile apparently stuck on her face for the moment. Not that I could blame her, after all, she had a bunch of reasons to be very happy – Dr. Tomoe gone, no more surgeries, and, mostly, no more "House of Pain." I took a moment to take a bite of my carrot.

"Yeah," I said. "How's everything going out there?" Kit paused, and actually let her smile slip slightly.

"It okay," she finally said. "Mistress Hotaru now saying she Queen, proper ruler since Dr. Tomoe gone forever." I blinked, then froze mid bite. _Queen?_ I thought, and then what she'd been doing earlier suddenly made more sense. Finishing my carrot and grabbing an apple, I made my way out of the cave to have a look.

Outside it looked like someone was having a party, the various Beast Folk dancing and having food from what looked like an all-you-can-eat buffet set up to the side. And in the center, Hotaru sat on her new chair, a circlet of flowers and branches on top of her head. I calmly moved over to her, quietly munching my apple, and noticed Hotaru's circlet even had a couple branches going straight up with more flowers on the end. The "chair" was now clearly her new "throne," and the ringlet her "crown." She had a peach in her left hand and a wood cup, more like a bowl, really, probably made by one of the Beast Folk, filled with water, I think, in her right. She took a bite, then noticed me.

"Why, hello again, my courtier," she smiled after she swallowed. "Do join us in our celebration. The King has died, and now his only child, the pretty, pretty Princess, must rule in his place as the pretty, pretty Queen. Long live the Queen!" The last part she said loudly as she rose her cup/bowl, and then all the Beast Folk around rose up in chorus.

"Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!" they all cried.

"Queen, huh?" I said quietly. "Okay, whatever you want. Um, has Beryl been by recently?" Hotaru looked thoughtful about that, taking a drink from her cup/bowl.

"Beryl, Beryl, Beryl..." she mused. "Who is that?"

"One of your 'adoring subjects,' used to be a tiger once upon a time," I told her.

"Once upon a time?" she looked up. "Are you starting a story?"

"Uh..., no..." I said slowly, hoping she wouldn't get mad and do something bad to anyone, namely me. I took a quick bite of my apple, hoping it looked like I was enjoying the party and wasn't too worried about anything, but I don't know if it really worked or not.

"Oh, too bad," Hotaru looked away. "The pretty, pretty Queen likes stories..." I decided that it would be best to just leave Hotaru to her dream world, and glanced around, spotting Greg to one side with what was left of the trained Folk, looking somewhat uncertain. I moved over to them, and Greg and Unazuki, at least, looked happier.

"Mistress Rini, you all right?" Greg asked.

"Yes, Greg, I'm much better now, thank you," I said. "Has Beryl been around since the party started?"

"No...mistress...Rini...," Unazuki said. "Why...?"

"Do you mean to slay to her?" Catzi asked, looking worried.

"I may have to," I replied. "She's dangerous and ready to kill me and Hotaru, and I think we can all agree Hotaru's too out of it to even consider herself in any danger right now."

"What is wrong with little Mistress?" Zoicite asked. "Why does she call herself "Queen," and not seem like she was?" I blinked, then sighed, not sure if I could explain it. Thing is, I'm not really sure I understood myself. But I decided to try.

"Her father died, Kaolinite died, they were the only parents she knew," I said. "Losing them like that, I guess it was too much. She just...snapped."

"Snapped?" Zoicite stared.

"She's gone crazy, her mind's left her," I said. "Please, I can't explain it anymore simply than that. Just trust me?"

"Okay," Zoicite said. "What do we do now?"

"Well, the compound and the 'House of Pain' are long gone because of the fire, so I guess we just live here with the rest of the...with your fellow men, and just hope for the best," I told him. I changed gear mid-sentence 'cause I didn't really know how they'd react to being called "Beast Folk." I moved back into the party, only then feeling the lick on my hand, and noticing Kyusuke had come out to join me, as had Kit.

"We live here, with Kit, yes, mistress?" he asked.

"Yeah, we do," I told him. "And please, just call me Rini."

"And when Beryl returns, you slay her?" he asked.

"If I have to, yes," I replied.

"We help, Rini," Kit said. "When she come, we fall on her, hold her for you to slay!"

"Yes, we fall on her!" Kyusuke declared to me.

"Thank you, if it comes to it, I will have you do that," I said. "Shall we join the party?"

"Yes, yes," they cried, and we quickly let ourselves get caught up in the festivities. Hotaru being crazy aside, it was actually a lot of fun.

The only one who didn't seem to have any fun was Melanie, who hadn't moved from where she'd been sitting since Hotaru pushed her down, looking like she wasn't sure she even wanted to live anymore. I felt really sorry for her, but what could I do for her?

---

I have only more thing I'd like to add to the events of that day. That night, as everyone went back to their caves, Greg, Unazuki, Catzi, and Zoicite finding lodgings with Hotaru in the Sayer's cave with him by her "royal command," I went back to Kit's cave with her and Kyusuke, and laid myself down just a few feet from the entrance, I didn't want to be too far in case I had to get out fast, Kit curling up as her feline nature willed her to do four or five feet further in, and Kyusuke curled up with me. I began to drift off to sleep, when I heard a shuffling coming from outside, and I looked up. Melanie had appeared at the entrance.

"Can I stay here, too?" she asked shyly.

"Sure," Kit's voice came up from her spot in the cave. "Kit like Melanie, Melanie can live in Kit's cave all time she want."

"Come on in, Melanie," I agreed, and she slipped in, and laid herself next to me, wrapping one arm around me. It was a bit surprising, but after a bit I decided I kind of liked having the three of them with me.

It was much better than being in there alone.

---

Now begins the longest part of my stay on Tomoe's "Island of Horrors." Yes, that's right, the longest part. Over the next few weeks I stayed among the Beast Folk, Kyusuke, Kit, and Melanie becoming my main companions while the others in the town continued to serve under "Queen" Hotaru, who day by day clearly became worse. I think the most frightening thing I saw her do happened about three weeks into our stay there, when she drew a male beast person into a cave. Curious, I followed, glanced inside, and saw they were both naked and doing...I don't really know what it is they were doing, only that he was on top of her, and she was moaning, and then I dove away and never looked back. I'm not even sure if I ever **want** to know what it was that they were doing!

I kept a constant vigil for Beryl, who never did return to the Beast Folk's village, creating herself a new lair deep in the island's jungle, and stayed to herself, alone. At one time I tried to get a hunting party together to track her down and remove her as a threat, going as far as trying to tell the ones I attempted to recruit that Beryl was plotting their "Queen's" death, but could get almost no help.

On one occasion, well after my arm had healed and no longer sat in a sling so that I could use both hands again, I tried to sneak up on her, take her unawares. By then she had indeed killed, taking another poor bunny, she now clearly following in poor Fiore's footsteps. But she smelled me about a mile away, and easily escaped me, I simply wasting another two bullets when I tried to shoot her.

During those first few weeks of living among the Beast Folk, they seemed to stay more or less "human", they still talked and walked on two legs, and seemed happy to help me when I asked for any aid, and in all accounts I was second in power after Hotaru, though I never tried to make it seem like I was a leader. I just wanted to be me. Even Melanie, at first, seemed normal, though every few days she would still ask about me or Hotaru maybe trying to recreate Mimete's serum, for all the good that did.

It was right around the fifth week or so when I really started to notice it. Dr. Tomoe was right. They were changing back. Sort of. Bit by bit, slowly, day by day, they would get to be less human, and more like the animals they once were. By the sixth week, poor Unazuki became the first to stop talking altogether, her speech replaced by the simple gibbering and cackling of a jackal. Others, including Greg and Kyusuke, began to clearly struggle to still be able to talk. Kit began forgetting words, the three pig kids began to oink now and again while chatting, and even the old, kind Sayer of the Law began having problems recalling the words of said "law."

And as time passed they began slipping in other ways, beginning to stop walking on two legs and starting to go around on all fours again. At first Hotaru, despite her madness, tried to enforce her lost father's "law," tried to punish those who broke it, but as more time passed she soon stopped caring, and just declared herself, loudly, to be a "Queen of the jungle animals." Melanie was the one true stubborn one, constantly fighting the changes her body was going through. Dark hair began sprouting, her eyes slowly started to become cat-like, or maybe they always were and I had simply not noticed it, her nails slowly became claws.

And yet she fought to retain her "human" mind, refused to stop using her ability to talk, even when she every now and then started to have trouble remembering how. When she would start to drop to all fours, she would almost immediately catch herself, and snap at herself for doing so.

"I am not an animal, no matter what anyone says!" she'd screech. "I...am...**HUMAN**!!" But sadly it was a lost cause, as day by day more and more of her true animal self peeked through, battling for control, a battle poor Melanie was, sadly, doomed to loose. I'm not sure when it was that I asked, but I finally approached Hotaru and asked her what Melanie originally was before Tomoe changed her.

"Melanie?" she blinked, seeming to think. "Oh, the Puma girl, I think I remember her..." She then drifted off into her now permanent daze again, so I left it at that.

As more time passed, the speed with which the Beast Folk reverted into just beasts seemed to get faster and faster. They soon started to suck their drinks regularly, and could no longer hold things in their hands easily, but instead became clumsy about it, and in time abandoned holding things in their "hands" entirely. By the eighth week some began to forget about decency, some without meaning to, others on purpose. The "Law" was falling away, replaced by the random acts of wild animals.

Before I knew it, Kyusuke had ceased to be the simple servant and friend who chose to stay with me, and became the simple loyal pet dog trotting at my side. Kit stopped being a fellow girl I could talk to, and became a happy cat, another simple pet to keep me company, and nothing more. And Melanie...kept fighting it. Yet they, the Beast Folk, didn't really go all the way back to being animals, Tomoe's operations had altered them too much, bits of some animals being attached to others and the general changing of their shape from animal into human. Through it all, there was always some lasting hint of what Tomoe had tried to make of them, peeking out through the animals they had returned to being.

In time, as the Beast Folk became less and less organized, I found I didn't want to live among them anymore, and returned to the remains of the compound, where using large branches, various remains of the house and the wall, and vines, I managed to create a small hovel to live in. The compound, what was left of it, was still a safe place to be, some faint memories of pain being inflicted on them there staying in the Beast Folk's minds. By this time I'd made myself a pair of spears for fishing and catching rabbits for myself, and while I didn't catch too many bunnies, I must admit I became quite a good fisher!

Kyusuke and Kit and Melanie followed me to the compound, the first two always sleeping outside, Kyusuke on "guard duty" like a good dog, constantly vigil and alert for any threats against me. Only Melanie joined me within the remains of the walls, which, by the time I decided to return there, had in fact mostly fallen over, some of the smaller jungle plants attempting to take back the cliff area.

As the creatures changed, slowly but surely, they also, though I suppose it doesn't surprise me that they did, began to abandon the need for clothing, little by little, until finally they threw away their clothes altogether. I don't even remember anymore when Kit threw away the dress I gave her that day so long ago, and even more scary, I don't think I ever really cared that much. Hotaru also began wearing less, her few remaining clothes slowly wearing out, eventually wearing only a few rags over her hips and chest.

As for me, I too slowly began to wear less. My final dress slowly became ratty and filled with holes, as did my panties. At some point, I forget when, I simply tossed my panties away and never thought of them again. Finally, I reduced my dress to a simple jungle girl like outfit, a loincloth over my hips and privates, and a simple sash around my chest to cover my nipples, as mommy had taught me that girls never bare their chests outside, no matter what. Only Melanie, again, refused this change, struggling ever valiantly against herself.

But as I said before, it was a losing battle; she had begun walking on fours more and more, silky black hair now covered her arms and legs, her remaining clothes were just as ratty as mine and Hotaru's had become, and sometimes, late at night, I would wake to hear her yowling to the sky like a cat. I knew in my heart that it was just a matter of time before she gave up, and I felt so sorry for her, wishing there was something I could do for her, but there wasn't. Sometimes I even thought about giving up on clothes entirely, as the majority of the Beast Folk had done, to show her it was okay to give in and let the change take her. I'm still not sure why I didn't. Maybe, because I wasn't yet ready to give up on being human, either?

During those months I set up a pile of branches for a bonfire, which I remade as needed, on the beach, and I sat there on the sands, staring out to sea, waiting and hoping and hoping for a ship to come, for there to be someone, anyone, to rescue me from my island jail. For a while I still considered Hotaru to be coming with me, that she might still be saved, still be helped. As the days went by and became weeks and then months, I eventually accepted that Hotaru was also a lost cause, her mind too far gone to ever retrieve again. Though I suppose if someone had come, we might have still taken her with us.

As I waited and hoped, I even found myself hoping to spy the Nemesis, even that horrid boat and its less than desired crew sounded like a good way to escape, no matter what I had to pay to get them to take me this time. But she never came back, so I never did find out what that could or might have been. It's probably for the best, right?

I'm not sure when it occurred to me to try and build a raft, but when it did I was faced with the problem of how. I mean, what did I know of building things like that? I'm just a kid. But after thinking about it for a while I decided to give it a try, and began going over what was left of the compound and it's walls and the nearby jungle trees to see what I could use. I even had a look at what little was left of the launch and my original lifeboat, but I quickly decided that wasn't going to help me.

Over the next couple of weeks I worked on it, trying my best to put together a simple raft on which to make my final escape. Every now and then one or more of the other Beast Folk, who by then had long since split up and drifted apart from their original town, would appear, watching what I was doing, and darting away when I would move towards them to say hi. A tropical storm hit for a few days, during which I decided to return to Kit's old cave, but I took this small delay in stride. It's not like I could do anything about it, right?

Finally, after about three weeks of work and rework, I had it finished, but realized I'd made it a little too far from the beach. Just as well, for by the time I got it to the ocean, it had come apart on me, leaving me to scream my frustration to the sea. So miserable was I at my failed attempt that I spent the next four or five days sulking on the beach, staring at the sea, and considering turning one of my few remaining bullets on myself. Yes, I actually gave thought to the worst of sins, taking my own life.

But my desire to live, to one day see my family once more, won out instead. I didn't want to die, but I no longer knew what I was going to do next. It was at the end of this multi-day moping session that an incident occurred to revive my determination to escape the island. I was leaning against a tree, once again watching the water and feeling hopeless when something brushed against my leg. I glanced around to find myself staring into the eyes of the pig-boy, Kotaru, – during my stay in the Beast Folk's town I had finally taken time to speak to them and get their identities straight – who now barely looked like the "little boy" I had originally encountered during my first failed escape, his chin now fuzzy, he now unable to speak anymore, or able to walk on two legs, having returned to his birth state of walking on all fours.

When he had my attention he oinked, and trotted off, then looked back and oinked again. I stared for a moment, then realized he wanted me to follow, so I got up and did so, Kyusuke and Kit, who had taken to never leaving my side, following after me. I followed Kotaru into the jungle for several minutes before he stopped, and shook his head, trying to indicate something ahead of me. I came up beside him and looked, and saw his two fellows, or what was left of them. Nanako and Miharu had been killed, their bodies lying on the ground, torn open bloodily, at least one from what I could see by the throat, the other, Miharu, having made a failed attempt at escape, and in the center of this horrid scene was Hotaru, lying on the ground, her own body torn into. She was dead, having finally left the island the same way as her father, Kaolinite, and Mimete. It was the first time I had even seen Hotaru in days, and from what I could see, she had also given in to the wild, as I could not see one stitch of clothing upon her, not that I was looking that close right then. I was staring at her and the pig-girl's killer – Beryl!

She crouched over Hotaru's remains, greedily devouring what I think was her lung or spleen, and looked up at me, no hint of humanity left in her, just a wild tiger on the hunt. I calmly pulled out my gun, which I kept on me at all times just for this moment, and carefully pointed it at her. She snarled, roared, and lunged, and I fired two shots. She kept moving, slammed into me, and, startled, I fired again. It's odd, really, because I know I shot once at the moment, but, as I would learn shortly thereafter, I actually fired three times, even though I still can't recall pulling the trigger another two times.

Beryl's movements stopped, and I glanced up; one of her front legs was stretched across me, the rest of her lay just off to the side, very still. I shoved her paw off of me. Checking her, I found all my shots had struck true, her chest now like swiss cheese, one hole straight into her heart. I breathed heavily – the danger from this monster was finally over. But then it occurred to me that there were other meat eaters among the beast folk, Motoki had come to the island with me as a Cougar after all, and there was also Kakeru, the Cheetah man, just to name a couple. It was just a matter of time before they became as wild as Beryl, and when I checked my gun, I found I had but two bullets left to me, hence how I knew I had fired thrice instead of once. At that moment I **knew** I had to try the raft idea again!

First I piled up some wood right there, a trench around it to keep the fire from the trees, and placed the four bodies upon it, and set them afire – during my time living with Kit in her cave I had learned how to do so without matches and oils by simply watching the beast folk – and stayed until they were ash. I then returned to the beach and the remains of my first raft attempt.

Over the next many days I tried again, this time working near the shore and paying more attention to how strong it was, learning from my previous errors. When I was about a third of the way through, one final unpleasant incident occurred.

As I worked hard at my chore, another beast person emerged from the woods, looking like some fowl mix of a hyena and pig. By the green hair on it's head I think it may once have been my one time "bodyguard" Juno, but I guess I 'll never really know for sure. When I saw the creature, I immediately moved to get my gun, only to find that in my relief of not having to worry about Beryl anymore I had accidentally left it in my little den. Before I could decide what I was going to do about this, I heard it, the unmistakable 'bang' of the gun going off. The hyena-pig ran off in fright, and I turned to the compound's leftovers. Grabbing the spear I'd brought with me, I always kept one near me if I needed it and the other at my den, I ran back up the cliff to said remains. Within I found Melanie, who had fought the backwards change from "man" to "beast" the hardest and definitely the longest, lying on the ground, my gun in her hand, a bullet wound under her chin and coming out the top of her head.

Melanie had not left the compound remains for three or four weeks, as though she believed as long as she was there she had some hope of staying a 'man'. I guess the despair had finally won, and she had chosen to die as she had lived, as a person. Not knowing what else to do, I picked up her body, after reclaiming the gun, despite knowing I now had only one bullet left to me, and tossed her off the edge of the cliff to the water and rocks below, simple and easy. Then I checked around where her body was, and found a final message left carved in a piece of wood, by what I do not know. It was her constant refrain for all those months.

'I am human.'

---

I spent only two more days after that working on the raft. And then it became a moot point. For then came my last day on the island, at long, long last. I woke that morning, had breakfast – fruits, wild roots and veggies, and a fresh caught fish, then headed down to the beach to begin work on my incomplete raft, glanced out to the sea, and saw what I had so long hoped to see – the sail of a boat!

I dove to my unlit bonfire, all thoughts of my raft forgotten as I no longer needed it, finally set the pile of wood ablaze, and waited for the boat to come to me. I waited for many hours, ignoring Kyusuke and Kit's growls and meows of curiosity. I even paid no heed when other beast folk came out of the woods, wondering at my activities. Before long noon came, but I did not care, I gave no notice to stomach until the afternoon when it insisted, and then only made a mad run back to my den to collect and armload of fruit to turn off my hunger, carrying it back to the fire before eating it, my eyes never leaving the boat. When night came the boat vanished into the darkness, and I fought the whole night to keep the fire burning, the eyes of many of the beasts shining from the jungle, whether in awe or wondering when I would finally go to sleep and allow them to have me for dinner I know not, nor care.

By the next morning the boat was in sight again, and much closer. It was then I realized it was a small boat, almost like my original lifeboat from the Millennium. And it sailed oddly, swaying back and forth a bit in the waves. I watched carefully, intently, waiting and waiting. Finally I grabbed a recently broken off branch from a nearby tree, stuck the dying leaves in the fire to light it, and waved it over my head, screaming and yelling to the boat to get its attention. And still they did not respond.

I carried my branch down to the edge of the beach, and waved it even more from there, again shouting for attention from whomever had finally come to save me. Finally I tired out and fell to my knees, by fire branch dropping into the arriving waves. Yet still I watched the boat, and could now make out two people within, one at the front and one at the back, they seemed to be staring at each other. They were also very still, and I got a bit of a sick feeling in my tummy, but still I did not look away.

Finally, in the afternoon, the boat washed ashore, and I carefully walked up to it, noting the only writing on it was a "N," an "E," and a "S," with a space between the last two. Thoughts of the ship this boat had come from passed through my mind as I peered at the men within – they were dead, and had been for a very long time. A third lay within the center, just lying there where he perished. So long had these three been gone that when I used all my strength to tip the boat so as to dump the three of them out, they all but fell to pieces when they tumbled onto the beach. The white hat worn by the man at the front tumbled off, revealing to me the remains of once bright red hair.

I shoved the boat back into the water a few feet and carefully moved it up the shore before tugging it back to the beach. Finding that the three dead men had been far wiser than the two who had originally "kidnapped" me from the Millennium, I claimed not one but three canteens, which I took and filled fully with water from the nearest fresh spring. I then gathered many fruits and wild veggies and roots, used my last bullet and my spears to catch me two bunnies, then wrapped all carefully in the largest leaves I could get and loaded them all onto my new craft.

I then returned to the compound's remains for the last time. During my first check of the ruins for anything to make a raft from, I found that by some miracle one writing desk, I have no idea which room it had originally been in, had survived the fire with only a few scorch marks. I know not how, and it doesn't really matter. But it was to this I return for that last time. From it I took the drawer with the last surviving stack of papers within it and the two surviving pens and three pencils. As my gun was now empty and I had no chance of finding new bullets, I abandoned it to the ruins, and grabbed my spare spear, and returned to my new boat.

I loaded the drawer, filled with its papers, pens, and pencils, and then my spears, before turning to my two final companions. Kit and Kyusuke looked at me, as though some part of them understood what I was doing. I hugged them each goodbye, thanking them for their friendship and companionship. And then once again I pushed the boat out to sea, this time working with the sail to catch the wind and carry me away from the island forever. I glanced back only once, and noticed Kit and Kyusuke returning up to the compound's remaining wall, as if they thought I was going to come back to them. For one brief, shining moment, I almost did. But I knew I couldn't stay any more than I could take the two of them with me.

That was four days ago. Once I was safely out to sea and the island had vanished behind me, I took these pages out of the drawer, and using the spare seats of the boat as my desk, wrote this account, so that even if I am dead when this boat is found I, and my amazing adventure, will not be forgotten. Learning from my first trip alone in a small boat, I am rationing my food and water carefully, so as not to waste it and wind up literally right back where I began. I know not if I will be saved, and, I know this will sound very odd, as much as I wanted to be forever free of the Beast Folk, I find I am in no hurry anymore to return to the world of men, or even my family. My hair I have not done up for a very long time, simply tying it behind me, and it has grown to reach a little below my knees. I look at how long it has become, and I wonder: How long have I lived upon that island, away from the rest of the world? Am I ten years old now? Older? I do not know. And yet, I feel more at peace than I have in a very long time.

And so, dear reader, I now close this account, and will leave it carefully within this drawer which I will place beneath a seat in hopes of keeping my story safe from any weather. I hope I am believed, whatever my fate. Farewell.

Yours truly,

Rini Shields.

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Thus, it ends. For the most point, anyway. Hope you have enjoyed thus far and will return one last time for the epilogue – what, you really thought I was gonna leave her fate up in the air?! What kind of finish is that? No, I have one last little bit to go, one last loose end to tie up. Thanks for reading so far, though, and don't forget to hit that shiny Review button down there!

Scorpinac


	9. Epilogue The Girl's Fate

Okay, as promised, the epilogue of Rini's journey. I hope you enjoy it. But first, as always, the disclaimers.

Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei, DiC, Pioneer, and Cloverway, in that order, none of whom are me.

The Island Of Dr. Moreau belongs to H.G. Wells and his descendants(if any), also not me.

**This** is emphasis, and _this_ is thought. And ((this)) is auditory/visual flashback.

Yes, I am one of the laziest, most distractible human beings on the planet.

And now, the conclusion.

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_**The Island Of Dr. Tomoe**_

by Scorpinac

Epilogue: The Girl's Fate

Hello, again. I'll admit it, I never thought to add to this account again, but Mom insists that I tell of what happened after where I left off, and after having given it some thought, I finally agreed. If only to tell of my rescue and homecoming.

About two days after I finished the rest of my account, I was finally picked up by a ship named the U.S.S. Elysion, commanded by one Captain Hawk, who was gentlemen enough to give me one of his spare shirts to wear as a sort of makeshift dress. I'm told I looked quite wild when they found me, my eyes constantly alert, my long hair dirty, tangled, and waving behind me in the slight wind of the day, my well tanned skin all but bare. When they brought me aboard I told them who I was, and this time I told them who my family was as well. While the communications officer radioed the mainland, the Captain asked me my story, and I told him all that had occurred since I departed the ill-fated Millennium. He and his First Mate, as well as, I believe, four off duty officers, and a few off duty sailors, listened intently to my tale until I was done. Afterward, the First Mate quietly shook his head.

"The poor girl's been alone too long," he said. "Her mind's become deranged."

"But it's the truth!" I snapped. "It happened! All of it!"

"Poor dear, you need some rest, that's all," the Captain said consolingly, and guided me to his cabin where he set me down in his bed. It was the first time I had been in a real bed in so long I fell asleep almost instantly. When I awoke I was much calmer, and was allowed to use the ship's bath in private, the first time I'd had a real bath since the end of the compound. Afterwards I retrieved my account from my small boat and placed it safely in my new "quarters".

It also became clear to me pretty quick that no one was going to believe me. So when I was next asked, I simply said I had survived alone on a deserted island because my first lifeboat had sprung an irreparable leak until the one they found me in came ashore, and that my first story was just a fantastic dream I'd had. I also asked what the date was, I was shocked at the answer – May 16, 1941. I had lost nearly a whole year!

Two days later we sailed into port in Miami, Florida, and they took me to a hotel where I lounged for another two days, during which the Captain and his Mate bought me some new, proper clothes. And then, on May twentieth, I was told someone had arrived to see me. When I was brought down to the hotel lobby, my heart skipped a beat when I saw for the first time in nearly a year my parents and nanny, who were overjoyed to see me as well, my mother practically dive bombing me and squeezing the hard won life out of me in a hard bear hug.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she said through her tears. "They declared you to be dead when they didn't find you." I hugged her back, telling her it wasn't a dream, I was really here, I was really alive. And then I noticed what was in Trista's arms – a baby, asleep, no more than a couple months old. Before my father could take his turn, I stepped back.

"What's that?" I asked, trying to keep calm, pointing to the baby.

"Oh," mother blinked. "Oh yes, we were going to introduce him. You see, Rini, it turns out, mommy was pregnant when we left Europe, about two months so." She went over to Trista and took the baby, holding it happily. "This is your baby brother, Matoru."

"You replaced me?" I asked, feeling a small fury coming on. My father kneeled down next to me and took hold of my shoulders, looking me square in the eye.

"No, Rini, we'd never replace you, we couldn't," he told me. "Your brother was going to be born even if you hadn't been lost at sea. You see...babies...grow inside their mommies for awhile before they're born. Matoru was already inside your mother when we went on board the Millennium, we just hadn't found out yet." I looked at him like **he **was the crazy one, and he quickly added, "Having babies can be like that sometimes, you don't know at first until certain signs, or a really good doctor, tips you off. Anyway, the point is we were already having Matoru when you disappeared, and frankly it was all we could do in the wake of your loss to keep your mother from stressing out to the point of losing him." I would later learn that he spoke the truth all too well – my mother had in fact come close to miscarriage on at least three occasions with my brother.

But for that moment, I simply looked in his eyes, and could see how serious he was. And then he finally took his turn hugging me, and I knew he wasn't lying to me. After he let me go, I went back to my mother and hugged her again, apologizing for my accusation, and finally greeting my little brother, who just turned slightly, still wrapped in whatever pleasant dream he was having. Then I said something I probably shouldn't have.

"Just don't turn into a pig-kid or dog-kid, okay?" I said to him, and my parents and nanny stared at me with wide eyes, and I realized my mistake. Captain Hawk, who was with us, jumped in before I could say anything myself.

"She told us she was trapped on a deserted island, and had a crazy dream about a mad scientist turning animals into people," he explained. "You might want to get her a therapist." I considered rebuking him, but decided to just leave it at that, for the moment. Trista then took me in her arms, and apologized for losing me on the Millennium. I forgave her, and told her it wasn't her fault, because as far as I was concerned, it wasn't. While I did that, my parents thanked Captain Hawk profusely for bringing me back to them alive and well. Dad even insisted on giving him a small check for twenty thousand dollars! Captain Hawk accepted, but continually stated that he had simply done his duty as was required of him, and nothing more.

We spent the rest of that day at the hotel, just basking in our reunion, and caught a plane home the next day. I had managed to bring my account to the hotel with me, and placed it in my new suitcase when we packed that morning before heading to the plane. When we finally got home, I placed it in my room, locked in a drawer, for a time forgotten.

Coming home turned out to be harder than I thought. After all my time on the island, I had forgotten what my real home was like, it took me a few days to re-accustom myself to it. Father hired a tutor to help me catch up on the year of schooling I had missed, and mother took Captain Hawk's advice and hired a therapist to help me resettle myself into my old life.

As fate would have it, my therapist was one Alice Vilyu, who at one time, a lifetime ago according to her, worked at the same university Tomoe had been expelled from. She was the first person after my rescuers on the Elysion that I told my full story to, in hopes that she would believe me. Well, she did tell me that what Tomoe had told me of his and Kaolinite's being thrown from the university had been the truth, and that his wife had indeed died, apparently by her own hand, and that it had been believed at the time that she had taken his child with her, though the baby had never been found. And nothing was known of Tomoe or Kaolinite after they abandoned humanity.

But in the end she told me that while I may have stumbled upon the remains of where Tomoe had retreated to, and subsequently died, the idea that he had actually made men from animals was preposterous, and that I must have imagined it or dreamed it, as I had told the sailors, in a desperate attempt to keep myself entertained and sane while trapped on the island alone. Realizing I would get no help there, I let it go, and just agreed with her – it was only a dream.

As time passed, and I slowly tried to reintegrate myself into society, I decided to try and find proof of my tale, by learning of the location of the S.S. Nemesis. I made a few phone calls to the port authorities about the ship, and got confirmation that it had departed from Morocco with one Dr. Patricia Mimete, four "unusual" manservants, and, quote, "assorted cargo", unquote; it sailed out on a course leading it to Bermuda, and arrived minus said passengers and cargo, and plus an additional one thousand and fifty dollars – I have no doubt that was the fifty to get the Nemesis to pick up my original lifeboat, the four hundred to take me aboard and save my life, and the six hundred meant to take me to Bermuda, before Captain Rubeus ditched me at the island.

I was told that the Nemesis had then set out toward the African continent again, and that there was a report that three days later the ship's communications officer radioed in, his voice panicked and crazed, screaming for help, they were being attacked by pirates. There had been no word from the ship since, and to this day it has never reappeared. If I am right, the boat that floated to me that last day on the island was all that was left of her, and of Captain Rubeus.

Guess his karma finally caught up to him, huh?

So now I had no way of proving my story, to any degree, and finally just let it go, keeping it to myself. I knew it was true, but now no one would ever believe me, and I didn't want to get locked up in an asylum as a lunatic. I did, however, continue my sessions with Dr. Vilyu, and to this day I continue to see her on occasion, whenever the remnant cries of the Beast Folk pound in my mind too loud and I need a sensitive ear I can talk to, without feeling like I'm being fitted for a straight jacket. Okay, so sometimes it does feel like she's doing that, but she hasn't committed me yet, so for now I trust her. But that's not quite all.

Since returning to the world, I have found that I have never truly resettled. When I walk among my fellow men, every now and then I get this feeling that I am again staring at Tomoe's monsters, that soon the regression I witnessed on the island will begin again, but on a far larger stage. When I sat in my school class, I would glance around at my classmates and again see the three happy pig-children, the joyful and innocent Kit, the loyal and stalwart Kyusuke, and even poor stubborn Melanie. Of adults, when I walked in the park or rode on the bus with Trista, it would sometimes feel like once again they were around me, Kakeru, Malachite, Chad, the old Sayer of the Law, even Beryl. Even my brother, in his wails for food and to be changed, reminded me of the wails of the poor creatures in Tomoe's lab as he worked on them. Yet I knew in my heart it was just my imagination, that they were not fantastic "Beast Folk" around me, just normal men and women and children, not enslaved to a madman's twisted whims and fancies.

As the years moved by I felt this less and less, but deep in my mind it was always there, always waiting to awake and unnerve me in the night. I might have come to finally let it go, if not for my brother's curiosity and childish behavior. One day when he was eight, I now eighteen, he slipped into my room to read my diary, the little imp! He didn't find it, thankfully. He did, however, find my all but forgotten account. When I walked in on him he had just gotten to my encounter in the cave of the Sayer, eagerly going over my introduction to the Beast Folk's "Law", and after fessing up to his intended misdeed, begged me to let him finish, telling me it was the best story he'd ever read! I threw him out of my room instead.

A little bit later my mom came up, and told me that Matoru had told her about the account, and how he had found it after she prodded him. She had given him four smacks on his rear for the attempt to invade my privacy, and had come up because now she wished to look at this "story" he had told her about. I asked her why, and her answer chilled me.

"He said it begins with you being shoved off a ship named the Millennium into a lifeboat being taken by a couple of cowards," she said calmly.

"You sure you want to look at it?" I asked.

"Please," was all she said, and I got it out and handed it to her. I sat there in silence for about two hours while she read it. When she was done she just sat there a few moments, processing.

"Do you believe me?" I asked quietly. She looked up at me, and finally spoke.

"Why didn't you tell us?" she asked, tears in her eyes. "Didn't you tell anyone?"

"Just Captain Hawk and his men, and Dr. Vilyu," I answered, still quiet. "They didn't believe me. I didn't think anyone would."

"Oh, sweetheart," she put it aside and gave me a hug, and I knew, without her saying it, that she **did** believe me. We decided not to tell my father, mom was worried he'd have me committed right away, even though it was years later. A few days later, I let my brother back into my room, and let him read the rest. I never told him it was true, I didn't want him looking at me like I was mad, or worse, a monster myself.

After I graduated, I asked for and was given by my father a small place in the country to retreat to now and then. I have put it mostly behind me, but as I have said, now and then I still feel that unsettling feeling creep over me, seizing me whole, and being in the city only worsens the feeling. I hide myself in good books, study mathematics, and at night drown myself in astronomy, finding an infinite peace in the endless starry skies. When I look up there, into the vast heavens, I feel a solace, and hope.

And I do hope, or I could not move on.

And so, here in my solace and hope, my story finally ends for good.

Yours sincerely,

Rini Shields.

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And now I'm really done! Yes, my fanfic is completed! (Knocks out inner "Dexter" and shoves him back in his box.) I hope you have enjoyed this variation on the classic tale, which in places I will admit to more than a little closely following the original novel by H.G. Wells. And remember to hit that Review button, please!

Scorpinac


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